Trinity
by Katling
Summary: Set postHBP. Harry now knows what he has to do find and destroy the Horcruxes and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione refuse to leave his side and they choose to become something that the Dark Lord will fear...the Trinity.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately Harry and his friend and teachers are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

****Chapter 1**

Two men stood in the Forest, watching the large crowd of people disperse. They were dressed in dark robes that allowed them to disappear into the shadows under the trees. One had long white hair and a beard and his eyes, which were normally an intense blue, were dull with weariness. The other man was younger and had sallow skin, shoulder length black hair and dark piercing eyes. He was supporting the older man who appeared weak and ill.

The two men continued to watch silently as a young man with messy black hair walked away from the crowd and came around the lake, closer to them. The young man was joined by two others; another young man, this one with bright red hair and a young woman with brown bushy hair.

"It worked then?" the black haired man said quietly, with no hints of the sarcasm and bitterness than usually surrounded him.

"So it seems," his companion replied wearily.

"Is Potter ready?"

"Can anyone be ready for what he now faces?"

"But is he ready?"

"He has taken the first steps down the road to his future. The rest is now up to him."

"That is not a reassuring answer."

"It was not meant to be. I have shown him the road. I have pointed him in the direction he must take but I can do no more. _He_ must take the lead now. He knows what must be done."

Silence reigned for a while as they watched the three young people talk then the old man spoke again.

"How is Draco?"

"The Dark Lord is displeased with him."

"And how is he disposed towards you?"

"I am his favourite."

"Then all of the pieces are in place. Now the game must be played."

The black haired man closed his eyes for a moment.

"You should rest," he said when he opened them again.

"Soon, soon," the old man said soothingly. "There are still some things to be done. Let us work our way closer. I would like to hear what those three have planned."

The black haired man nodded and the two men moved as close to the three students as they could.

Harry stared across the lake and felt his thoughts slowly start to coalesce. He'd been feeling so disjointed since that terrible night but now, since the funeral had started and ended, his thoughts were starting to clear. He fingered the fake Horcrux then pulled his hand out of his pocket and cleared his throat. Ron and Hermione gave a start and looked at him with surprise.

"We have to make a few plans," Harry said firmly. "Since it seems I can't get rid of you two, we have to make sure we're organised."

"Damn right you can't get rid of us," Ron said staunchly.

"Absolutely," Hermione said with a smile. "So where do we start? We don't have much time."

Harry nodded. "I know so we'll only be able to make some loose plans for now. We'll have time to tighten them up later. Firstly, Hermione, I need you to find out everything you can about the Fidelius charm. How to cast it, everything! When Dumbledore died, every one of the spells he cast will have died with him. And that includes the Fidelius that's protecting Grimmauld Place." He grimaced. "I don't like the idea of using that house but it's perfectly situated to act as Headquarters."

"So it's vulnerable even now?" Hermione said with some alarm.

Harry swore. "Dammit, yes." He frowned in thought then snapped his fingers. "I know! Kreacher! Dobby!"

There were twin pops and the two house elves appeared in front of Harry, both of them eyeing the other suspiciously.

"Kreacher," Harry snapped. "I order you to go back to Grimmauld Place. You will not allow _anyone_ except for me, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to enter the house. No one but us, Kreacher! Do you understand me?"

"Master has given Kreacher an order," the little house elf muttered. "Kreacher has heard it and Kreacher will obey even though Kreacher wishes his Master was…"

"Enough!" Harry barked. "I don't need the added commentary." He then turned to Dobby and his voice softened. "Dobby? Will go with him and make sure he obeys. I don't want anyone entering Grimmauld Place except for Ron, Hermione and myself."

"Dobby is happy to help Harry Potter," Dobby said looking _very_ pleased at the trust being placed in him. "No one will enter Grimmauld Place." He paused and looked worried. "Harry Potter sir? What about the good wizards who is using that place?"

"No one, Dobby," Harry replied firmly. "It's not safe anymore."

Dobby nodded and the house elves disappeared.

"Now, I have to go back to the Dursleys," Harry began.

"We," Ron said firmly.

Harry gave him an exasperated look. "I don't think your Mum would like that too much, Ron. Look we all have to go home, at least at first. I don't plan on staying there for too long, only a day or two to get myself organised. Then I'll go to Grimmauld Place. I should be safe enough with Dobby and Kreacher until you can get the information for the Fidelius charm, Hermione."

"Are you sure?" Hermione said, looking worried.

"House elf magic is strong," Harry replied. "I saw Dobby throw Lucius Malfoy down a set of stairs in order to protect me. Don't underestimate them."

"Alright," Hermione said, still looking worried.

"Once you know how the Fidelius charm is performed, let me know and we can use it on Grimmauld Place," Harry continued, standing up and starting to pace a little. "That'll take care of at least one problem."

"We _are_ going to come and join you once that's done," Ron said in firm tone. "I take it you plan on being the Secret Keeper."

Harry nodded, his face stony, his voice stern. "It's probably for the best. Okay, once we're situated at Grimmauld Place we need to start working out what we're going to do but I have some ideas. Firstly, we need training. Proper training in how to fight and stay alive. Second, we need to find out who R.A.B. is and make sure he really did destroy that Horcrux. Third, we need to find and destroy the other Horcruxes before I can face Voldemort. Fourth, and you're probably not going to like this Hermione, I am going to get that book back and we're going to learn every bloody spell in it. Every spell and every counter to those spells. And Hermione, you're job is going to be to continue on with…_his_ work. Create new spells for us. If _Snape_ could do it, you can as well. You're not just the smartest witch in our year; you're the smartest witch in the whole bloody school! He got pretty angry that I used his own spells against him, angry enough that he didn't notice Buckbeak approaching. I'm going to use that against him."

He paused in his pacing and looked at his friends. "I am going to finish this," he said in a strong, deadly tone. "Voldemort believed in that prophecy so blindly that he made me his enemy. I have no choice other than to follow along but I'll be damned if I do it on anything other than my own terms!"

Ron and Hermione's expressions were a mix of determination, anger and a little fear.

"I'd better get to the library," Hermione said, springing to her feet. "I'll probably need all the time we have left to talk Madam Pince into letting me take some of those books home with me."

"I'm going to go and talk to Bill," Ron said, also getting to his feet. "I think he might have some books that might help us in our training."

Harry nodded. "I'll go to the Room of Requirement. I hid the book in there."

The three friends strode off towards the castle with strong, determined strides.

The old man smiled with satisfaction.

"Come, Severus," he said, turning back towards the Forest. "We must get to London."

Severus frowned. "Why?"

"Because I have to remove the Fidelius charm from Grimmauld Place. It would not do for that to still be there. Young Harry was right. The spell would have died when I did." The old man hesitated. "It might do well for you to stay out of Harry's way. It would not do for him to kill you before we have an opportunity to confess our ruse to him."

"That will be difficult, Albus. That is precisely what the Dark Lord wishes for me to do. Get in his way."

Albus sighed. "Decoy manoeuvres," he muttered. "Very clever. Well then, let us hope that Harry is able to see through them and remain focused on his objectives. I did note that _you_ were not one of them."

Severus grunted as he helped Albus through the Forest.

"I will be the most obvious target now, particularly for the Order," he said sourly. "Few other than Potter will dare try to directly oppose the Dark Lord. Draco and I however…"

"I know," Albus replied. "Be careful, my boy. That is all I ask. I would like for both of us to survive this."

Severus gave another sour grunt and the two men continued on their way.

When they got on the train, Harry, Ron and Hermione made a beeline for an empty compartment. They dragged their trunks inside and closed the door firmly.

"Well?" Harry said.

"Madam Pince wasn't very happy about it but she let me take a half dozen books with me," Hermione said with satisfaction. "She said she trusted that I would not damage them in any way."

"Bill said he's got some books that we might find useful," Ron reported. "I didn't tell him what we have planned but I think he might have guessed some of it. He said he'd have a think and let me know what books might be worth getting to add to his books."

"I got the book," Harry said. "Just as well I hid it as well as I did. That cupboard the Death Eaters used to get into Hogwarts was in there."

Ron gave Harry a funny look. "Harry? Ginny told me you'd broken up with her; that's why she wouldn't come and join us. Why the hell did you do that?"

Harry sighed and swallowed hard. "I didn't want to, Ron, but I had to do it. Look, she's already in enough danger since everyone knows that I consider your family to be mine. She'd be in even more danger if Voldemort found out she was my girlfriend. I don't want that. She wasn't happy about it but she understood. I don't want to have to go to her funeral because she died for me. I know she's not safe, no one is, but she is _safer_ now."

Ron gave Harry a long look then nodded solemnly. "She'll wait for you, mate. I know that much."

Harry smiled wanly. "She's a Weasley. She's stubborn."

"Damn right," Ron replied with a small grin.

"Who do think we could get to train us?" Hermione asked, changing the subject.

"I've been thinking about that," Harry said, "and I'm not too sure."

"What about Moody?" Ron suggested. "From what Dad says, Moody was always pretty independent when he was an Auror. He knows heaps about the kind of stuff we want to know and he was always Dumbledore's man. He didn't trust Snape one bit either."

"Ron, he didn't trust anyone," Hermione said.

"Well, true but he _really_ didn't trust Snape," Ron replied.

Harry nodded slowly. "Moody's a good choice." He paused. "How much trouble are we going to have from your parents and the Order?"

"Tell them it's what Dumbledore wanted you to do," Hermione suggested. "I mean he did, though he never _said_ it as such. They won't like it but I think they'll understand the idea of honouring a dead man's wishes. You may have to explain some of it to them though."

"Yeah, I guess I will," Harry said with a grimace. He hesitated for a long moment then said slowly, "I…had an idea about who R.A.B. might be. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"Who?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Well, presumably R.A.B. must have known Voldemort, been close to him in some way. Close enough to have found out about the Horcruxes and where the locket was being kept," Harry explained. "From what Dumbledore showed me in the pensieve that almost _must_ make him a Death Eater. One who betrayed Voldemort and knew he was going to die because of it."

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. Harry nodded at her.

"Yes, you've worked it out," he said intently. "Who do we know with _those_ initials that was a Death Eater? That changed his mind? That tried to back out of the whole thing? That was killed by Voldemort? _Regulus Black_." He paused. "Now I don't know whether it _was_ actually him but it's worth thinking about."

"Did Sirius ever say anything about him?" Hermione asked.

Harry leaned back on the seat and thought. "Not much. He didn't really like talking about his family. He told me that Regulus had joined the Death Eaters then panicked at what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Sirius said that his brother was murdered by Voldemort then he said it was probably more likely to be on Voldemort's orders. But that was what he said first: Regulus was murdered by Voldemort."

Hermione sat thinking for a moment then her eyes widened and she gasped. "Harry! Let me see that locket!"

Harry frowned and pulled the fake Horcrux out of his robes. He handed it over to Hermione who examined it closely.

"Harry, how close is it to the original that you saw in the pensieve?" she asked.

Harry frowned. "It's…smaller and there are no markings on it. It should have an 'S' carved on it. It looked similar enough through the liquid in that bowl though."

Hermione nodded, looking triumphant. "I'm sure it did. Harry! I think we've seen the original."

Silence greeted Hermione's words then both Ron and Harry looked dubious.

"Where?" Harry asked.

"At Grimmauld Place," Hermione replied fervently. "When we were doing all of that cleaning last summer."

Harry frowned. "I don't remember anything like that."

"Besides we threw most of that rubbish out so what does it matter," Ron added.

"No we didn't," Hermione replied. "It was all taken to either the attic or the cellar. Dumbledore didn't want to risk anyone getting their hands on any of that Dark stuff."

"So where was it?" Harry asked.

"Do you remember when we were cleaning out those glass-fronted cabinets in the drawing room?" Hermione said. "The ones full of all those Dark objects?"

"Oh yeah," Harry said. "That's the day Sirius told me all that stuff about Regulus."

"Do you remember some of the stuff we took out of those cabinets?" Hermione pressed. "There was that snuffbox that bit Sirius, that musical box that nearly put us all to sleep, the Order of Merlin and…_a really heavy locket that none of us could open_!"

She sat back in her seat looking triumphant as Ron and Harry exchanged disbelieving looks.

"It was there all along?" Ron said in a stunned voice.

"He hid it in plain sight," Harry said weakly. "He somehow found out about it, stole it from the cave and then hid it at Grimmauld Place in amongst a whole bunch of other Dark objects." He ran a hand through his hair. "The question is did he destroy the Horcrux before he got killed? And if so, how? How did he find out what they are? Slughorn told Voldemort but he didn't know _that_ much about it. He certainly didn't know the spell that was needed to create one."

"Maybe there's some information in the library at Grimmauld Place?" Hermione suggested.

Ron shook his head. "There can't be. Surely Dumbledore would have found it if there was."

"Maybe," Hermione conceded. "But there's no harm in searching."

Ron shrugged. "So the diary Ginny found was one Horcrux, the ring you told us about, the one that burnt Dumbledore's hand, was one. The locket is another. What were the others again?"

"Voldemort has one part of his soul within himself," Harry said carefully. "The others are the ring, the diary, the locket, Hufflepuff's cup, Nagini and there's one more that Dumbledore thought must be a relic of Ravenclaw's." He stuttered to a halt and his eyes widened.

Hermione laughed. "I think Harry's just had a lightbulb moment like I just did," she said to Ron.

"Looks like it," Ron replied.

"Oh yeah," Harry breathed. "Dumbledore said that Nagini was probably not Voldemort's first choice of Horcrux. That he used her after he returned during the third task. His original sixth Horcrux was meant to be created the night he came after my parents and me at Godric's Hollow. The sixth Horcrux was meant to be created using _my_ death. But it all backfired on him, didn't it? Because my Mum was prepared to sacrifice herself to save me and gave me that protection. The spell backfired and Voldemort's body was destroyed."

"I'm not quite sure where you're going with this, Harry," Hermione said, looking mildly confused.

"It would make sense that the object to be used as a Horcrux would need some kind of preparation, yes?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded slowly as she thought that through. "Well, yes, that makes some sense. It's hard to really know because we don't know anything about the process but that's a valid assumption. Most of the time when you want to use an object to hold anything remotely magical you've got to prepare it somehow or else the magic can break or warp it."

"Exactly!" Harry said. "So wouldn't that mean that there is a prepared Horcrux object at Godric's Hollow?"

Hermione blinked. "But surely everything would have been removed after…well, afterwards?"

"I know," Harry said. "That did occur to me. But would anyone have known what that object was? Or what it was for? Dumbledore said he thought Voldemort would have found it easier to find something of Ravenclaw's and that he thought that the only known relic of Godric Gryffindor was his sword but is that true? What if Voldemort found something of Gryffindor's and was going to use that as his sixth Horcrux? Would anyone associate something belonging to Godric Gryffindor with Voldemort the Slytherin? Or would they associate it with James and Lily Potter the Gryffindors? I never found out what happened to all of my parents' things after they died."

Ron nodded slowly. "He's got a point, Hermione. It's worth thinking about anyway. And if there was one of Gryffindor's relics at your house then I think I know where it is."

"Where?" Harry asked as Hermione thought about what had been said.

"Gringotts," Ron replied. "You've probably got a family vault that you'd have inherited from your Dad. He was a pureblood and all pureblood families have them. You've seen ours."

"But I already have a vault," Harry objected.

Ron shook his head. "I'll bet that's not the family vault. Family vaults are usually pretty big and full of all sorts of family heirlooms. The Potters would _have_ to have stuff like that. There's only money in the vault you use, isn't there?"

Harry nodded. "But how do I find out?"

"Well, you'll probably be notified when you come of age," Ron said. "But I could always ask Bill if he could find out in some way."

Harry bit his lip then nodded. "Yeah, do that. But only if he can find out without getting himself or anyone else in trouble. It's not _that_ long until my birthday. We can always wait if we have to. Hermione? What do you think of all of this?"

"I…think it's a good working premise," she said slowly. "I don't know whether it's right or not but it's probably a good place to start. Particularly about the Horcrux brought to Godric's Hollow. Even if it isn't a relic of Godric Gryffindor it may be in your vault. They probably didn't examine anything too hard after your parents died other than to determine if it was Dark or not."

"There's something else we have to work out," Harry said grimly. "Your mention of Bill reminded me, Ron. We have to find things to ward off and hurt werewolves. And we'll have to be bloody careful what we do with them. I don't want to hurt Remus." He smiled wryly. "Tonks would kill me."

"Because of that Fenrir Greyback person?" Hermione asked with a small smile at Harry's last comment.

Harry nodded. "And we might want to give Fred and George a project to develop something that's easy for kids to wear and use. Greyback likes going after children, the younger the better." He paused. "He's the one who bit Remus when he was a child."

"I think they owe us after what happened with the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," Ron said grimly.

"Well, you've put a lot on our plates, Harry," Hermione said with a wry look.

"And we don't have a lot of time," Harry replied. "Remember, the only wizard Voldemort ever feared was Dumbledore and I think Dumbledore's presence made him wary about doing too much. Now that Dumbledore's…gone, there's nothing to hold Voldemort back."

Both Ron and Hermione looked grim and slightly scared at that thought then they nodded firmly.

"We'll be ready," Ron said, his voice a little rough.

"Harry? Have you thought about a name?" Hermione asked as calmly as she could.

"A name?" Harry said with distaste. "Hermione, I am _not_ doing what Tom Riddle and Snape did."

"That's not what I meant," Hermione said in a mollifying tone. "I meant something along the lines of the Order of the Phoenix. You said that Dumbledore was the only thing that Voldemort feared. Maybe we should think of giving him something else to fear."

"I take it you've got something in mind," Harry said.

Hermione nodded. "It's a very Muggle thing. Religious in fact but that doesn't matter for our purposes. It's the Muggle aspect of it that I like; that and it describes the three of us."

"What is it?" Harry asked, sounding interested. "Since I can't get rid of you two, we might as well make Voldemort afraid of all three of us."

Hermione smiled smugly. "That's what I thought. Anyway, we've been called the Gryffindor Trio and the Golden Trio before but that's by other people. This will be _our_ name for ourselves. The Trinity."

"The Trinity," Harry said softly. He was aware of the Muggle connotations to the word though he'd never been to church. But that wasn't what drew him to the name; it was the idea behind it. Three working together as one. "I like it."

"So do I," Ron said.

"The Trinity it is then," Harry said solemnly, feeling almost like they were part of some kind of ritual.

He held his hands out to his friends, palms up. Ron immediately took one and held his other hand out to Hermione. She took both their hands with a sober expression on her faces.

They stayed like that for a moment then they reclaimed their hands and sat back in their seats. After a few moments they all reached into their trunks and took out books; Harry had the Prince's Potions book, Hermione had one of the books she had borrowed from the library and Ron had grabbed his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook. They opened their books and settled in to read.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When they arrived at King's Cross Station, they stood and dragged their trunks onto the platform where the Weasleys were waiting for them. They were quickly ushered into the station proper and Harry saw Uncle Vernon waiting impatiently.

"I'd better go," he said quietly.

Mrs Weasley drew him into a motherly hug. "I spoke to Professor McGonagall and she said we could come and get you in a couple of weeks."

Harry nodded, not wanting to get into an argument with Mrs Weasley. He got a hug from Hermione and he shook hands with Ron.

"See you soon," Ron said soberly.

Then Ginny walked over and pulled him into a hug. "You look after yourself," she whispered in his ear. "Look after Ron and Hermione and let them do the same for you. I'll be waiting." With that she kissed him on the cheek and walked over to join her mother.

Harry stared after her for a moment then turned and walked resolutely towards Uncle Vernon. The beefy man sneered at him and started walking towards the car. Harry followed along and manhandled his trunk into the boot. He then climbed into the backseat, balancing Hedwig's cage on his lap. Uncle Vernon started the car and they were soon on the road home.

About halfway there, Harry cleared his throat. "I won't be staying long this summer. I'll be out of your hair permanently in a day or two."

The car swerved suddenly as Uncle Vernon turned to look at him incredulously then quickly turned back to watch the road. "What are you talking about, boy?"

"You heard me," Harry said flatly. "I'll only be staying for a day or two and then I'll be leaving. You won't ever have to see me again."

For the first time in his life, Harry received a full-blooded pleased smile from his uncle.

"You'll never come back?" Vernon asked.

"Nope."

"We won't ever have to see any of your freaky friends again?"

"Nope."

"Good," Uncle Vernon said settling in his seat with satisfaction.

"I'll need you to drive me to London though," Harry said, wondering if this was pushing his luck.

"Whatever you need to get out of our lives," Vernon said expansively then his piggy eyes narrowed. "That Headmaster of yours won't get angry?"

Harry was silent for a moment. "No," he said shortly. "He won't mind."

"Good," Uncle Vernon said.

The rest of the trip was accomplished in absolute silence and when they arrived back at Privet Drive, Uncle Vernon startled Harry by helping him get his trunk out of the car and into the house. Once that was done, Uncle Vernon headed into the kitchen. Harry shook his head as he dragged his trunk up the stairs to his room; clearly his leaving had _really_ delighted the man. He let his trunk drop with a quiet thud then opened the window and let Hedwig out of her cage.

"We won't be here long, Hedwig," he told the snowy owl. "We'll leave tomorrow or the next day."

Hedwig nibbled gently on his fingers then flew out of the window. Harry watched her go for a moment then sank down on the edge of his bed.

"Is it true?" Aunt Petunia asked from the door, startling him out of his thoughts.

"That I'm leaving?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Aunt Petunia said through pursed lips.

Harry nodded. "Tomorrow, the day after. Not sure when."

Aunt Petunia stared at him. "Will we be safe?"

Harry considered that. "You'll be as safe as any other Muggles," he said finally though he wasn't sure of the veracity of the claim. "Maybe you should all go on holiday for a while though."

Aunt Petunia eyed him for a moment longer then she whirled around and Harry soon heard her walking down the stairs. Harry gave a sigh then pushed himself to his feet and closed the door. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He intended to spend as much time as he could in the next day or so sleeping. He had a couple of vials of Dreamless Sleep that he'd talked out of Madam Pomfrey. He wanted to be as rested as possible before he got into the training he wanted to do and he wasn't sure how well he was going to sleep as Grimmauld Place.

He gave a start as he heard Aunt Petunia call him down for dinner and he sighed before pushing himself off the door. He opened it and slowly walked down the stairs, reminding himself that he wouldn't be here for long and he could be polite for the next couple of days.

Two days later he stood in the hallway, his trunk at his feet and Hedwig's cage in his hand, waiting for Uncle Vernon to finish his breakfast. He had agreed to take Harry into London this morning with almost frightening cheerfulness. Harry had had very little to do with his relatives since he got back, taking advantage of the potions and sleeping as much as he could. The times he slept without the potion were riddled with terrible nightmares but he had gotten enough sleep to feel ready for almost anything.

Uncle Vernon came striding out of the kitchen and within ten minutes they were in the car. It was a long silent drive into London; Harry only spoke to give Uncle Vernon directions to Grimmauld Place. Once they got there, Uncle Vernon looked around at the dingy, dilapidated houses with a scornful expression.

"This is it then?" he sneered.

"Yes," Harry replied. He looked at his uncle silently for a moment then shook his head and got out of the car. He opened the boot and hauled his trunk out. As soon as he slammed the boot closed, Uncle Vernon started the car and drove off. Harry watched him go then snorted sourly. He turned and eyed Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place with distaste and reluctance then slowly dragged his trunk up to the front door. He knocked quietly and the door was opened after a moment by Dobby.

The little house elf beamed as soon as he saw who it was and he gave an odd little wave of his hand.

"Harry Potter sir! Dobby is very pleased to see you."

With a snap of his fingers, Dobby had levitated Harry's trunk into the house and was heading up the stairs. Harry closed the door behind him and followed Dobby.

"Has everything been alright?" he asked quietly.

Dobby nodded. "No one has come, Harry Potter sir, not even the good witches and wizards who used to. But Kreacher has been…" He broke off and scowled. "Dobby will not talk of Kreacher."

"I don't blame you," Harry said dryly as they continued climbing the stairs. He frowned as they passed the floor that held the room he and Ron had once used. "Er, Dobby? Where are we going?"

"When Harry Potter told Dobby he was coming to stay at Grimmauld Place, Dobby thought he would prepare a proper place for Harry Potter," Dobby said then he peered up at Harry nervously. "Did Dobby make a mistake?"

"No, no, that's alright," Harry said hastily.

Dobby beamed as they got to the third floor and the little house elf led Harry along the corridor. "Dobby has prepared rooms here for Harry Potter and for Wheezy and Hermy."

Dobby opened a door and led Harry into a large well-lit bedroom. The room was clean and neat and decorated in shades of scarlet and gold. There was a large four-poster bed on one wall, a couple of bookshelves, a large wardrobe and a desk and chair on another. There was a door in a third wall that stood half-open and Harry could see a large bathroom through it. Dobby levitated Harry's trunk and lowered in the middle of the room and Harry walked in and put Hedwig's cage down on the desk. Hedwig was making her own way here.

"Wow, Dobby, this is wonderful," Harry said with a smile. He certainly hadn't expected anything like this.

Dobby beamed. "Thank you, Harry Potter. This was once the room of Sirius Black. Dobby thought you would like it."

Harry swallowed at the memory of Sirius then he nodded. "I do like it." He took a deep breath then let it out. "Have there been any messages delivered?"

"No, Harry Potter," Dobby said.

Harry nodded. "If one comes, please let me know."

"Dobby will. Would Harry Potter like lunch?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, thank you, Dobby."

"Dobby will let you know when it is ready." With that Dobby disappeared with a pop.

Harry drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. He walked over to his trunk and opened it, unpacking his belongings and putting them into the wardrobe. He grimaced as he pulled out Dudley's old clothes. He really wanted to replace them but that would have to wait for the moment. He wanted the Fidelius charm on the house before he did that. He didn't want to take too many risks right now. If he took too many risks, the adults would have valid arguments for shoving him back to the Dursleys.

He was staring out of the window when Dobby came back to announce lunch and he was glad of the distraction as he went downstairs.

The next morning Harry was woken by a rather overexcited Pig bouncing around the room being chased by a scolding Dobby. He propped himself up on his elbows and grinned at the sight.

"Dobby, it's alright," he said quietly.

Pig flew over to him and whizzed around his head, hooting excitedly. Dobby scowled at the little owl then disappeared with a pop. Pig flew around his head a couple more times until Harry snatched him out of the air with amused exasperation. The tiny owl hooted happily in his hand as he removed the letter from his leg. He let Pig go and the owl flew over to Hedwig's empty cage to drink out of the dish. Harry looked at the front of the letter, realised it was from Hermione and quickly opened it.

_Dear Harry,_

_Ron loaned Pig to me so that I could get the answer on the Fidelius to you as quickly as possible. I've found it. It was far easier to find than I thought it would be and it seems to be relatively easy to cast though I think it will take a lot of energy. Whoever casts it (the Secret Keeper does not need to be that person) will probably be exhausted for a couple of days. That's why I think I should cast it. You might need to do things while I can just stay at Grimmauld Place and read while I recover. You know I'm right so don't argue. Anyway, let Ron and I know when we can join you. The sooner we get this done the better._

_Love,_

_Hermione_

Harry leapt out of bed and strode over to the desk. He grabbed a couple of pieces of parchment and a quill. On both pieces of parchment he wrote:

_Come to Grimmauld Place as soon as you can._

He folded each letter and wrote Ron and Hermione's names on them. He walked over to Pig who immediately started jumping up and down in excitement. He stroked the little owl's head to calm it and tied the letters to his leg.

"Take these to Ron and Hermione," he told Pig and the little owl leapt into the air and zipped out of the window.

He watched the little owl disappeared into the early morning sky then turned and headed for the bathroom. Once washed and dressed he headed downstairs where he allowed Dobby to fuss over him and make him breakfast. Kreacher came in at one point, muttering dire maledictions under his breath and Dobby was about to chase him out when Harry stopped him.

"Kreacher?" he said, firmly pushing his disgust at the house elf down. "Was Regulus Black living here before he died?"

"Master asks Kreacher about Master Regulus," Kreacher muttered. "Master Regulus was such a good son. Master Regulus did not leave his mother."

"Did Master Regulus go somewhere a few days before he died?" Harry asked carefully.

Kreacher glanced up at Harry. "Master refers to Master Regulus properly. Kreacher will answer Master. Master Regulus went away for two days just before he died. Master Regulus came back looking strange. Kreacher had to help Master Regulus."

"What did Master Regulus ask you to do?"

Kreacher gave Harry an angry look. "Master wants Kreacher to betray Master Regulus."

"You won't be betraying Master Regulus," Harry said after a sudden brainwave. "Master Regulus went away to do something for…his mother. He didn't finish that task before he died. That task needs to be finished. How did you help Master Regulus, Kreacher?"

Kreacher rocked back and forth as he thought about what Harry had said. "Master says he is helping Master Regulus but Master is not loyal to Mistress' Lord. But Kreacher must answer Master. Kreacher helped Master Regulus to hide something for him. Kreacher did this and Kreacher still hides it."

Harry carefully kept himself calm. "What did Master Regulus ask you to hide?"

"A necklace. Kreacher must hide a necklace."

Harry clamped down on his shout of joy then leaned forward. "Bring me this necklace, Kreacher, so that I can finish Master Regulus' task."

"Kreacher has been given an order and Kreacher must obey his Master," the house elf muttered. "Kreacher just hopes Master is telling the truth."

Kreacher disappeared with a pop then reappeared a moment later clutching a gold locket. He handed it to Harry then disappeared again. Harry looked down at the locket in his hand and had to swallow a sudden urge to cry. The gold locket was large and heavy with an ornate serpentine 'S' carved on it. Here it was hidden securely at Grimmauld Place and Harry took several deep breaths. A single tear slipped out of one eye.

"Harry Potter sir?" Dobby said softly, worriedly.

Harry looked up at him. "It's okay, Dobby. Um, Ron and Hermione will be arriving at some time. Possibly today, maybe tomorrow. Could you make sure their rooms are ready?"

"Dobby will do this," Dobby said still looking worried.

Harry pushed his empty plate away from him and stood, walking out of the kitchen. He wandered around the house aimlessly for a while, the gold locket clutched in his hand. Then he came to his senses a bit and took the locket up to his room, hiding it a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. He stood in the middle of the room for a moment then turned on his heel and headed down to the library. Maybe it was time to start looking for information on Horcruxes.

He was still in the library when he heard the knock on the front door. He heard Dobby open it and greet whoever was outside. He walked over and stuck his head out the door to see Ron walking up the corridor after Dobby, his trunk floating after the little house elf.

"Hey, Harry!" Ron said with a grin. "I take it Hermione's found the answer."

Harry nodded as he came out into the corridor. "Yeah. Hopefully she's on her way right now. Look, let Dobby get you settled in then come back downstairs. I've got something to tell you."

Ron nodded and followed Dobby upstairs. He had just rejoined Harry in the library when the doorbell rang. They both poked their heads out into the corridor as Dobby answered the door. Hermione was waiting outside and was swiftly granted entrance. Dobby took charge of her trunk and she walked up to the boys brandishing one of the books she had borrowed.

"It's in here!" she said triumphantly.

"Great, Hermione," Harry said with a grin. "Let Dobby get you settled in then we'll get stuck into it. I've got something to tell you anyway."

Hermione shoved the book into Harry's hands then rushed after the house elf. Harry and Ron exchanged amused looks and went back into the library. Harry placed Hermione's book on a table.

"You're not going to have a look?" Ron asked.

"And spoil all of Hermione's fun?" Harry said. "She'll get irritated at me if I do that."

Ron laughed and the two boys leaned against the table and waited for Hermione. She very quickly came rushing back into the library and made a beeline for the book. She flipped through the pages until she got to one about halfway in.

"There it is," she said, slapping the page.

Harry and Ron leaned over and read the page in question. The Fidelius charm was, as Hermione had written in her letter, not overly difficult. But it did take a large amount of personal power from the person casting the spell. Harry read it through twice then slowly nodded.

"I see your point," he said to Hermione.

"What point?" Ron asked.

"I said that it might be better if _I_ cast the spell," Hermione explained. "Harry might need to do things and whoever casts this spell is probably going to need to rest for a couple of days. I can still read while I'm doing that."

"Oh, okay," Ron said. "When are you going to do this?"

"I can do it now," Hermione said confidently. "In fact, I think I should do it now. Snape knows where Grimmauld Place is so the sooner we hide it the better."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked worriedly.

Hermione nodded. "I can do this, Harry. And this is important."

"Alright, what do you need to do?" Harry said.

"I think part of it will have already been done," Hermione said. "I need to place that rune at the four external corners of the property. It shouldn't be too difficult. The remnants of the runes from the Fidelius Dumbledore cast should still be there. I can just place mine over them."

"Okay, Ron, go with Hermione and help her," Harry ordered. "Keep an eye out for trouble. I've got to go upstairs and get something."

Ron and Hermione nodded and walked out of the library. Harry followed them but he headed upstairs while they walked out the front door. He headed up to his room and grabbed the pair of socks that held the locket. He walked back down to the library but he did not have to wait for too long for Hermione and Ron to return. Hermione had a look of satisfaction when she came back into the library while Ron looked impressed.

"Done!" Hermione said. "It was a lot easier than I thought. The remnants of the Headmaster's runes made it much quicker."

"Excellent," Harry said. "Now what?"

"Now I cast the spell," Hermione said. "Harry, if you could stand in the middle of the room. Don't move while I'm doing this."

Harry did as Hermione asked and waited with just a hint of trepidation. Hermione pulled out her wand and braced herself in front of him. She pointed the wand at him and began a series of intricate wand movements as she spoke. With each wand movement, Harry and Ron felt the magic build.

"Fidelis aedificium Twelve Grimmauld Place, London celo Harry Potter," intoned Hermione.

The power spiked and seemed to flow out from Hermione. It swirled through the walls in all four directions, obviously towards the runes she had set, then it returned and swirled up and into Harry. Harry gasped and clutched at his chest as the power settled into him then it disappeared and he felt normal again. The same could not be said for Hermione. The moment the power settled into Harry she paled and would have fallen if Ron had not leapt forward and caught her, helping her over to a nearby armchair.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked urgently.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. The writer wasn't kidding when they said it takes a bit out of you."

Harry caught his breath and rushed over to Hermione. "Are you sure?"

Hermione smiled wanly and nodded. "I'll be fine. Now what did you want to show us?"

Harry eyed her for a long moment then nodded. "Okay, first thing. Home is at Twelve Grimmauld Place, London." Ron and Hermione nodded and grinned as Harry continued. "Remember how we were talking about the locket Horcrux on the train?"

Ron nodded as he leaned on the back of Hermione's chair. "You and Hermione thought it might be that locket we took out of those cabinets in the drawing room."

Harry nodded. "I spoke to Kreacher this morning about it." He walked over to the socks he had left on the table and pulled the locket out from them, dangling it from his fingers. "Look what he had."

Ron and Hermione looked shocked. "Is…is it the real one?" Hermione asked weakly.

Harry nodded. "It's the right one," he said in a slightly choked voice.

"Is it still a Horcrux?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged as he turned and tucked the locket back into the socks. He pretended to have some trouble to give him some time to recover.

"I don't know," he said in answer to Ron's question as he turned around again. "And considering what happened to Dumbledore's hand, I'd like to see if we can find anything about Horcruxes in here before I go trying anything."

"Good point," Ron gulped. "So where do we start?"

"I've spent this morning just looking around, trying to get a feel for what kind of books are in here," Harry said. "I suggest you do the same. Maybe bring some interesting prospects over to Hermione."

"What are you going to be doing?" Hermione asked.

"I'm going to go shopping," Harry said with a hint of an impish smile. "I refuse to wear any of Dudley's hand-me-downs anymore."

"I think Ron should go with you," Hermione said firmly.

"I want him to stay here with you, just in case," Harry countered. "I'll be very careful and I plan on staying in Muggle London anyway." Harry held up a hand to forestall Hermione's protests. "You were the one who told me that the person who casts the spell needs to rest. I think that means not carrying enormous books around as well."

Hermione gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh, alright! But be careful!"

"I shall take absolutely no risks," Harry promised. "And I won't be too long."

"Do you have any Muggle money?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. "I planned on making a short trip to Gringotts to get some then heading out into Muggle London. I'll take the Knight Bus. I've got enough wizarding money on me."

Hermione nodded worriedly then turned to Ron, issuing some brisk orders about what she was looking for. Harry grinned at them then grabbed the socks containing the locket and headed upstairs. He shoved his wand into his back pocket and pulled on his oversized jacket. He grabbed his money bag and shoved it in one pocket before heading downstairs. He ducked into the kitchen long enough to tell Dobby where he was going then had to stay long enough to convince Dobby that he didn't need to be accompanied. When he finally got away from the concerned house elf, he let himself out of the front door and walked down to the footpath. He looked around and when he was sure there was no one there, he pulled his wand out and held it up, hailing the Knight Bus.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The trip to the Leaky Cauldron was mercifully short; Ernie Prang's driving had deteriorated and Harry wondered if that had anything to do with the arrest of Stan Shunpike. The new conductor was surly and brusque and all in all Harry was glad to get off when the bus screeched to a halt in front of the Leaky Cauldron.

He quickly made his way through the pub and out the back, tapping the bricks to open the portal into Diagon Alley. As he walked briskly to Gringotts he noticed he wasn't the only one moving in that fashion. Most of the people there only seemed interested in getting their shopping done and getting home. Harry understood how they were feeling and he was glad that the goblins were as quick and efficient as always. He was glad to escape out into Muggle London and he immediately headed for the Underground. He knew where he needed to go from Aunt Petunia's frequent visits to shop for both herself and Dudley.

He got his shopping done as quickly as possible. Hermione was right, until they really knew what Voldemort was doing they were at risk every time they left Grimmauld Place. So he just went after the basics: underwear, t-shirts, jeans, shirts, jumpers. The only non-essential item he bought was a long black overcoat that he fell in love with the moment he laid eyes on it. It took him just over an hour to finish then he ducked down an alley and called the Knight Bus again. He ignored the snide comments from the conductor and settled down as best as he could for the ride back to Grimmauld Place. As soon as they got there he grabbed his parcels and hurried inside. He walked up the corridor and stuck his head inside the library. He smiled to see Hermione still sitting in the comfortable armchair, surrounded by books and deep into her reading. Ron was walking along the bookshelves, frowning and occasionally pulling out books and adding them to the piles on the tables.

"I'm back," he said quietly.

Ron and Hermione jumped then gave him looks of relief.

"Did you get everything you needed?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Diagon Alley's pretty tense."

"I'll bet it is," Ron said grimly.

Harry headed up to his room and quickly put his clothes away. He then headed back downstairs to join Ron and Hermione.

"So how long have we got before your parents start panicking?" he asked as he walked back into the library.

"My parents won't," Hermione said. "I mean they're worried but I managed to convince them that this is something I _have_ to do." She paused and grimaced. "It sort of helped that I'm already considered of age in the wizarding world and I'm only a couple of months off being of age in the Muggle world. I basically shoved it in their faces that I'm an adult now."

"That can't have gone down well," Harry said.

Hermione bit her lip. "Not really. They're scared; scared that I'm going to get hurt or killed, scared that they're going to get hurt."

"I told Aunt Petunia that it might be a good idea for them to go away on a holiday," Harry said.

"Will they believe you?" Ron asked sceptically.

Harry paused. "Aunt Petunia probably will," he said slowly. "She knows who Voldemort is and what he's capable of. She doesn't like to admit it but she knows." He looked over at Ron. "What about your parents?"

Ron looked down at his shoes and slumped down into a chair. "They…they don't know I've left."

Harry looked over at Ron in shock as Hermione yelped, "Ron!"

Ron gave them an exasperated look. "What was I supposed to do? Tell Mum I was running off to throw myself in the way of danger? You both know what she's like! She'd have had me in the full body bind for the next ten years!" He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I left a note in my bedroom. If she hasn't found it by now, she will around dinner time."

Harry sat down in one of the chairs, thinking furiously. "Alright. We need to find a way of convincing your Mum and the others that we're doing what has to be done. Okay…we'll give your Mum a day or two to calm down a fraction then we'll send her a letter with Hedwig to let her know we're safe. We'll also ask her to call an Order meeting at…" He paused and thought for a moment. "…at Hogwarts, I think. We can explain ourselves then." He looked over at his friends. "How does that sound?"

"Well, I think you're being optimistic about Mum calming down any in just a couple of days but other than that it sounds fine," Ron said glumly.

"Why Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"It's the safest place until we can let everyone know that Headquarters is still available," Harry explained. "Remember they can't find this place anymore until I tell them where it is."

"Oh, yes, of course," Hermione said, looking chagrined. "With the new Fidelius going up, it'll hide again even though they knew its location under Dumbledore's Fidelius." She paused. "That's very neat, you know. The creator of that spell thought it out well."

"So that's the plan then?" Harry looked over at his friend. They both nodded then Harry reached for one of the many books on the table. "I guess we'd better get to work then."

Ron and Hermione both sighed and also turned to the books on the tables.

For the rest of the week they continued their research, not just into the problem of the Horcruxes but, when Harry brought down the potions book, into the spells that Snape had created when he was a student. Hermione spent hours pouring over the scratchy notes and comments, writing out the spells and their counters in her neat handwriting and writing out the various potion instructions with their updated and improved techniques. She intended to establish a potions laboratory in the cellar for them to use, saying that if they intended to carry out their plans they were going to need it. They no longer had access to a Potions Master, however unfriendly.

Their only break had come when they composed the note to Mrs Weasley. It had taken five rewrites and the combined work of all three to get something they were all happy to send off with Hedwig. The letter had been polite but firm:

_Dear Mr and Mrs Weasley,_

_We wanted to let you and everyone else know that we are fine. We are safely protected by the Fidelius Charm at Headquarters and are being well-looked after by Dobby and Kreacher. We're sorry that you have been so worried but this is something that we have to do. Harry made a promise to Professor Dumbledore that he would see this finished and that is why we have done what we have done. _

_We would like to ask you to assemble the Order of the Phoenix at Hogwarts this Saturday evening at eight pm. We will arrive by Floo into the Headmaster's office. We feel that we ought to tell the Order why we have done this and what we still need to do. It seems only right._

_Thank you._

_Love,_

_Harry, Ron and Hermione_

Hermione had also rather nervously presented them with a symbol she had drawn to represent their new Trinity. She had been relieved when both Harry and Ron had liked it thought that had turned into exasperation when Ron suggested they get tattoos of the symbol. Harry had pretended to like the idea to tease Hermione but had finally given up the game by laughing. Hermione had spent most of the rest of the evening scolding the two boys. She had then, in a tart response, transfigured one of the old golden candlesticks into three cloak pins in the shape of the symbol. The two boys were delighted and immediately pinned them to their shirts, making Hermione blush and smile.

When Saturday evening arrived they all dressed neatly and used Hermione's cloak pins to secure the long black cloaks they had found in a room upstairs. Dobby had been thrilled to adjust the cloaks for their use and the three of them felt they would make an appropriate impression on the adults they were about to face. They then walked into the kitchen and, one by one, flooed through to the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. They emerged to find Professor McGonagall and Alastor Moody waiting for them.

"Potter," Moody growled, his false eye roving over all three of them. "Tell me something to prove you are who you say you are."

"At the celebration for Ron and Hermione becoming prefects, you showed me that photo of the original Order of the Phoenix," Harry said promptly. "You told me that Elphias Doge used to wear a stupid hat and that you'd only met Aberforth Dumbledore once and you thought he was a strange bloke."

Moody gave a rough laugh. "You're Potter alright. Come on, we're all down in the staff room."

He turned and stumped out of the office, with Ron and Hermione on his heels. Harry paused and waited for Professor McGonagall and they walked down together.

"How are you really, Harry?" Professor McGonagall asked. She looked tired and weary.

"I'm fine," Harry said softly.

McGonagall nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder briefly. They walked the rest of the way down to the staff room in silence then Moody ushered them into the room. The moment they stepped inside, Mrs Weasley descended upon them and opened her mouth.

"Mum! Don't start," Ron said firmly though he was a little green around the edges. "We are _not_ playing games. This is something we _have_ to do." He took a deep breath. "We can't just pretend everything's alright anymore and that the most important thing that's ever going to happen to me is becoming Prefect. I think _this_ is the most important thing I'm ever going to do."

Mrs Weasley stared at Ron for a long moment then she pulled him into a fierce hug and wept into his shoulder.

"Mum…don't…" Ron said weakly, gingerly patting his mother on the back.

Mr Weasley walked up to them with a sad but proud smile and pried his wife off their son. "It's alright, Ron. We're very proud of you. Your mother was just worried."

"I know and I'm sorry that I left that way," Ron said sheepishly. "I just thought if I tried to tell her she'd lock me up for the next ten years."

Mr Weasley chuckled as he guided his wife to a chair. "You're probably right there, son."

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Moody said gruffly and everyone began to shuffle into seats around the table. Finally only Harry was left standing and only one chair was left empty, the chair usually inhabited by Professor Dumbledore, and everyone looked expectantly at Harry.

Harry frowned at them. "What's going on? Who's leading the Order now?"

"Dumbledore left instructions," Moody growled. "He was very specific. _You_ lead the Order now."

Harry's jaw sagged. "What?" he yelped.

"Professor Dumbledore was very clear," McGonagall said with a tiny waver in her voice. "In the event of his death, _you_ were to take over the leadership of the Order of the Phoenix. He wrote that it was your right and your proper place."

"Will you accept the job?" Moody said sternly.

Harry stared at everyone around the table and was shocked to see only expectation and encouragement. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

"Yes," he said as firmly as he could manage. "I accept the leadership of the Order of the Phoenix."

The moment he finished saying the words there was a flash of fire in the middle of the table and a scarlet and gold phoenix appeared. For a moment Harry thought it was Fawkes but then he realised the pattern of scarlet and gold feathers on the bird was different than those Fawkes had worn. The phoenix leapt into the air and circled the room, singing its beautiful song. Harry could see everyone's shoulders straightening a bit and their heads lifted as the phoenix song worked its magic. The phoenix circled the room one more time then came to land on Harry's shoulder.

Moody was the first to break the silence that had fallen when he chuckled roughly. "Good sign, boy. Now let's get this meeting going."

The grizzled ex-Auror's rough words seemed to break everyone out of their trance and Harry grinned and sat down. The phoenix moved to perch on the back of the chair.

"I wasn't quite expecting this, so I'm not exactly prepared," Harry said with a wry half-smile. "I actually asked for this meeting to tell why Ron, Hermione and I have taken the actions that we have and what we are going to be doing."

"Why you?" Mrs Weasley burst out.

"Because this is what I have to do," Harry replied. "Professor Dumbledore showed me that. And since Ron and Hermione refuse to leave me, I figured they should be as well-trained and well-informed as I intend to be. It seems to be the only way to protect them.

Mrs Weasley subsided, looking nervous and unhappy but Harry could see the pride lurking in the depths of her eyes.

"Has this got something to do with the prophecy?" Remus asked softly. He was sitting next to Tonks and they appeared to be holding hands under the table.

Harry nodded. "I gather that Professor Dumbledore hasn't told very many of you about the prophecy. Well, that's probably a good idea. What you don't know, you can't tell Voldemort."

"Good thinking, Potter," Moody growled his approval. "Do you believe the prophecy?"

"Does it matter?" Harry countered. "That's one of the things Professor Dumbledore taught me this year. It doesn't matter whether or not _I_ believe in the prophecy. _Voldemort_ believes in it."

People shifted nervously around the table.

"So what exactly are you after?" Moody asked.

"Training, first and foremost," Harry replied. "Proper training. _Auror_ kind of training. Stuff that will keep the three of us alive." He paused and looked the old Auror squarely in the eye. "We were kind of hoping you might be willing to do that."

Moody smiled, a rather intimidating sight, and chuckled. "Course I will, Potter. Bout time you realised what you're going to need."

Harry relaxed a little. He'd thought he might have to argue the point with Moody.

"Are you going to ask us to fight?" an elderly witch asked nervously.

Harry shook his head. "No, not if you can't defend yourselves to the fullest. I guess for now I'd like you to continue your old jobs. Keeping an eye on known and suspected Death Eaters and recruiting for the Order." He looked around and made a snap decision. "In fact if anyone doesn't want to do more than that, I might ask you to leave now. Not because I don't value your contribution, in fact your contribution will be vitally important. But I do want to protect you as much as possible. It's probably best if you don't know our plans and whatnot."

Heads nodded around the table and after a short burst of discussion, a number of people stood and left. When the door closed behind them, Harry looked around at those who remained. Ron and Hermione had moved to sit on either side of him. Mr and Mrs Weasley had stayed, along with Bill and Fleur, Charlie, Fred and George. Remus and Tonks had stayed as had Moody and Professor McGonagall. Kingsley Shacklebolt was still there along with Hestia Jones, Elphias Doge and Dedalus Diggle. Sitting at the other end of the table was an elderly man that Harry did not know but he did recognise from the photo Moody had shown him. The elderly man stood and moved around the table to a nearer seat.

"We've never met," he said amiably. "But I have heard a great deal about you, Mr Potter. My name is Aberforth Dumbledore." He stood and held out his hand.

Harry shook the older wizard's hand solemnly. Aberforth looked tired and grim though there was a twinkle in his eye that reminded Harry a great deal of the Headmaster. "Welcome, sir," he said politely.

"None of that," Aberforth said with an airy wave of his hand. "Call me Abe, Mr Potter."

Harry smiled. "Then call me Harry."

Abe returned the smile then Moody caught their attention.

"I think it's time you called all of us by our names, Harry," he growled. "Seems stupid for our leader to be using such formal titles."

Harry grinned wryly. "I'll try."

"Do that," Moody said. "Now, what's this all about?"

Harry sighed and sat down. "First of all, anything you learn here is going to put you all at terrible risk. Are you sure you wish to stay?"

"None of us are going anywhere," Fred said soberly.

"We're in it for the long haul," George agreed.

Harry nodded once. "Alright. Professor Dumbledore spent some time showing me various key points in the life of Voldemort and his parents through memories in his pensieve. It was all really leading up to one memory, a…corrupted memory."

"Corrupted? How? From whom?" Minerva asked.

"Well, I suppose not corrupted," Harry said with a grimace. "Perhaps a better word would be altered. The memory had been deliberately altered by the person who owned it because he didn't want to admit to what he'd done. One of the tasks the Headmaster gave me last year was to get an unadulterated copy of that memory."

"Obviously you succeeded," Bill observed. He seemed mostly unchanged except for the terrible scars on his face though Harry did notice that he seemed somewhat leaner than before. "Whose memory was it?"

"Professor Slughorn," Harry said, much to nearly everyone's surprise. He took a deep breath before he continued. "The young Voldemort seemed to be a member of Professor Slughorn's 'Slug Club' and one night after everyone else had left, he asked Professor Slughorn a question. A question the Professor answered and later wished he hadn't hence his attempt to change the memory. It was a question about…Horcruxes."

Several faces paled around the table and there were audible gasps.

"Why did Voldemort ask about Horcruxes?" Moody growled dangerously.

"He wanted to know how to make them, something Professor Slughorn didn't know," Harry answered. "And he wanted to know whether it would be possibly to split one's soul between more than one Horcrux."

The pale faces paled even further.

"That's how he survived, isn't it?" Mrs Weasley whispered. "After the Killing Curse rebounded off you and hit him. Because he'd already made a Horcrux."

Harry nodded grimly. "Not just _a_ Horcrux. Professor Dumbledore believed, and I agree with him, that he'd made _five_ Horcruxes by that time and he was planning on creating his sixth and final Horcrux that night…using my death."

Silence reigned in the room and Harry saw that all of the others except for Ron and Hermione were wearing horrified and frightened looks, even Moody looked seriously discomposed.

"He wanted to create six Horcruxes? Why?" Remus whispered.

"He wanted to split his soul into seven parts," Harry explained. "He felt that seven was a magically powerful number."

"But he failed," Tonks said.

"Temporarily," Harry replied. "Professor Dumbledore believed that he created his sixth Horcrux after he recreated himself at the Third Task."

"You're meant to destroy these Horcruxes, aren't you?" Charlie said, his freckles standing out sharply on his pale face.

Harry nodded. "I have to, otherwise there's no point in trying to kill Voldemort. The same thing that happened after the Killing Curse rebounded would just happen again. All of the Horcruxes must be destroyed before Voldemort can be destroyed."

"How are you supposed to find them?" Minerva said, sounding appalled.

"Two have already been destroyed," Harry said firmly. "One…has been found but I think it still needs to be destroyed. So there are still three left."

"Do you know what they are?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded. "One, and I think it might have been the first one he created, was the diary that Lucius Malfoy slipped into Ginny's books five years ago. The Tom Riddle who emerged from the diary was about the same age as the Tom Riddle in Slughorn's memory. So that one's been destroyed. The second one was the ring that I'm sure many of you saw Professor Dumbledore with this year. He was able to destroy it though you saw what it cost him. The third…" His voice broke and trailed off and he ducked his head.

"Harry?" Mrs Weasley said with concern.

Harry raised his head and they all saw the tears standing in his eyes. "The third was a locket that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin. It had been in the family of Voldemort's mother. It…We…went after it, Professor Dumbledore and I. That's why we weren't at Hogwarts…that…night." The tears started to trickle slowly down Harry's face. "But it wasn't until after it was all over, when I took the locket from Professor Dumbledore's pocket that I found out it was a fake." He clenched his hands into fists. "It was a _fake_!" he growled. "He died for nothing!"

"No, he didn't." Abe's stern voice stopped them all. Harry raised his head to look at the Headmaster's brother. "He did not die for nothing," Abe repeated firmly. "Did you know it was a fake when you found it?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then he died believing he had achieved a goal," Abe said quietly. "He died knowing you were safe and able to take up his mantle. He did not die for nothing."

"So there is one missing that we have to find," Moody said, breaking the silence.

Harry shook his head. "No, there was a note tucked into the fake locket. It was signed R.A.B. It was Regulus Black. He didn't back out of the Death Eaters because he was a coward. He somehow found out what Voldemort was up to, he somehow found out about the Horcrux. I think he knew about the locket and not any of the others. He took the real Horcrux and left the fake. I think he intended to destroy it somehow but he was killed by Voldemort before he could do that."

"Then where is the locket?" Moody asked.

"I have it," Harry said. "It was Hermione who worked out where it was. Regulus hid it in plain sight. It was tucked away amongst all the other Dark objects in those glass-fronted cabinets in the drawing room of Grimmauld Place. The ones we cleaned out last summer."

The others gaped at Harry and he smiled grimly at them.

"Kreacher had stolen it out of the rubbish bag and hid it in his things," Harry continued. "I ordered him to give it to me. Told him that I knew what Regulus wanted done with it and that I would see it done." He sighed wearily. "I just don't know how to destroy it. We've been searching the library all week in the hopes there might some mention of Horcruxes in some of the Dark books in there."

"I'll search Albus' belongings and papers," Abe said firmly. "He may have left some information somewhere in all his rubbish." He shook his head fondly. "Honestly, the man was like a magpie."

"I'll help you," Minerva said.

"There may be another way," Harry said tentatively. "We're fairly sure we're on the right track with this though only time will tell. I told you that Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow not just to kill me but to use my death as a way of creating his sixth and final Horcrux. Well, we've speculated that an object that is going to become a Horcrux must be prepared in some fashion."

"That makes sense," Bill said. "Any object that is going to be used as a reliquary for magic has to be prepared or it can be broken or warped by the magic."

"That's what we thought," Harry said. "Well, then we can assume that when Voldemort's body was destroyed, the object was left behind. Does anyone know what happened with my parents' things at Godric's Hollow after I was taken and the smoke cleared?"

"Not much was left," Minerva said slowly. "The house was mostly destroyed. I believe the Aurors took Voldemort's robes and wand but I think everything else was just…well, thrown into crates and put in the Potter vault."

"Oh, I do have a family vault," Harry said suddenly. "I didn't know."

"You'll get access to it when you come of age," Minerva said. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise you hadn't been told."

Harry nodded. "That's okay…"

"You think the proto-Horcrux is among the stuff that was taken from your home," Moody said bluntly.

"Yeah," Harry said. "That's the theory anyway."

"And if it's there, we can maybe work out how to destroy a Horcrux by working out how it was put together," Hermione said.

"Because I'd really like to keep my hands intact, thank you very much," Harry said dryly.

"I can make some enquiries with some of my more…dubious contacts," Abe said thoughtfully. "Some of them might know something about Horcruxes…or might know where to start looking."

"So what are the other Horcruxes?" Moody asked.

"Okay, we've done the diary, the ring and the locket," Harry said, counting them off on his fingers. "The others are a cup that used to belong to Helga Hufflepuff, something that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw and Nagini, Voldemort's snake."

"How do you know it's something that belongs to Ravenclaw?" Charlie asked.

"That was Professor Dumbledore's theory," Harry explained. "That Voldemort used significant things for his Horcruxes. Specifically objects that used to belong to the Founders. He has Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup. The Headmaster was sure that the only known relic of Godric Gryffindor is the sword so that left something from Rowena Ravenclaw. Is there any list of remaining relics of the Founders?"

"Gringotts might have something," Bill said thoughtfully. "I'll ask."

"We might have a list here at Hogwarts. I'll see what I can find," Minerva added.

"So 'ow will you find ze missing 'Orcruxes?" Fleur asked.

"That's a very good question," Harry said wryly. "Nagini is easy enough to find but the cup and the Ravenclaw artefact are probably hidden like the locket was."

"Abus may have had some clues," Abe said. "I'll look."

Silence reigned for a moment as they considered the immensity of the task in front of them.

"Where do we start?" Bill said firmly.

"Training," Harry replied firmly. "We need training if we're going to get those Horcruxes. So that's the place to start along with research." He paused then gave a sheepish laugh. "Oh, we've put Grimmauld Place back under the Fidelius so we can still use it as Headquarters. It's probably more convenient than Hogwarts." He looked around. "Headquarters is located at Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."

"Who performed the charm?" Minerva asked.

"I did," Hermione said. "But Harry's the Secret Keeper."

"Well done, Miss…Hermione," Minerva said approvingly.

Hermione blushed and smiled. Harry grinned at his friends then looked down at his watch.

"Look, we ought to get back to Grimmauld Place," he said. "Prof…Alastor, when do you want to start our training?"

"I'll come 'round tomorrow afternoon and we'll sort out a schedule," Moody said with a grin.

Harry nodded then collected Ron and Hermione with a glance. They said goodbye to everyone, with Mrs Weasley giving them all fierce hugs. Bill and Fleur made sure they would be attending the wedding then Minerva took them back up to the Headmaster's office. She stopped them before they could Floo back.

"Do you all know how we used to communicate with each other?" she asked.

"You use your Patronus, don't you?" Harry said.

Minerva nodded. "Concentrate on the message you want to send and who you want to send it to then cast the Patronus spell. You can send the same message to more than one person using the one Patronus."

Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded then they said goodbye and Flooed back home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Aberforth Dumbledore walked down the path that led from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade and reflected on the meeting that had just finished. Young Potter was going to do well, he could almost feel it. You could plainly see that he hadn't wanted to take on the role of leader of the Order but he'd accepted with a great deal of grace. Abe shook his head at the thought of the Horcruxes. What in Merlin's name had possessed Voldemort to do something like that?

He sighed as he pushed the door of the Hog's Head open and made his way round to the back stairs. He paused for a moment to be sure he had not been followed then he pushed a small section of wall. That small section moved inwards and a door creaked open. He slid through the door and closed it quickly behind him before heading down the stairs in front of him. He walked down for far longer than one would expect then he knocked on the door at the bottom of the stairs and opened it. The room beyond appeared to be empty and he looked around carefully.

"Albus?" he said softly.

Albus Dumbledore stepped out of the shadows, followed by Severus Snape.

Abe shook his head. "You know I'm the only one who can get down here," he said irritably. "You don't need to hide."

"One must be wary," Albus said calmly as he gestured for Abe and Severus to sit before taking a seat himself. "How did the meeting go?"

Abe chuckled. "Very well. Young Potter accepted the leadership of the Order." He paused and eyed his brother sharply. "Didn't tell me he'd get a phoenix out of doing that."

"Did he?" Albus said benignly. "Well, fancy that. What did he do?"

"Told us about the damn Horcruxes," Abe growled. "Did you know the locket the two of you went after was a fake?"

Albus looked shocked. "What?"

Abe grumbled. "The boy found out after you'd _died_. The locket is a fake. There was a note to that effect inside from someone with the initials R.A.B. He assumed it was Regulus Black and was proven right. The Black's house elf had hidden the thing. Potter's got it now."

"What does he plan on doing with it?"

"Destroying it…as soon as he can figure out how to," Abe replied. "I said I'd look through your things to see if you had any information."

Albus chuckled. "Yes, I do actually. It should be easy enough to find in my office. What else?"

Abe quickly detailed the events of the meeting and Harry's request for training from Moody. He then told Albus of the Fidelius charm Hermione had cast.

"Good, they're safe and well on the way," Albus said with satisfaction. He still looked slightly pale and ill.

Abe shook his head. "I'd say so. Now, tell me, Albus. How the hell did you pull this off? You've been too ill for me to demand answers from you until now."

Albus settled back into his seat and chuckled. "It was not easy, Abe. It had to be done in such a way that it was believable, for Severus' sake as much as anything else."

Abe glanced over at the Potions Master. "Why?"

Albus raised an eyebrow at Severus who scowled before answering.

"Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange came to see me during the summer," he said irritably. "Narcissa because she wanted something of me and Bellatrix because she did not trust me. I saw an opportunity to rid myself of the whispering little voices that have been plaguing my attempts to work my way into the Dark Lord's favour. I revealed how I had managed to convince the Dark Lord of my loyalty and implied I had fooled Albus. Narcissa then carried on for a while over the task Draco had been given and between her and Bellatrix I was backed into a corner. I had no choice but to act the way I did."

"Which was?" Abe prompted.

"To swear an Unbreakable Vow to aid Draco and carry out his task if he failed," Severus replied bluntly. "To do anything else would have brought back Bellatrix's suspicions tenfold and made my task that much more difficult."

Aberforth shook his head. "Damn," he murmured.

"Indeed," Albus said. "Severus told me of what had passed as soon as he could and I began to determine if there was some way of circumventing the Vow. I soon established that there was not and told Severus he would have to carry it out." Albus gave Severus an amused look. "He was not pleased."

Severus crossed his arms across his chest and scowled.

"I had the genesis of a plan on how that could be done that involved the use of a Simulacrum," Albus continued.

Abe blinked. "A Simulacrum? I thought the knowledge of how to make those had been lost."

"It had. I found it in a book in the library at Grimmauld Place," Albus replied. "It was surprisingly easy. A single spell. The only drawback is that to control it you have to remain reasonably close to the Simulacrum in order to provide its speech and movement."

"So what actually happened when you got back?" Abe asked. "I got the story as Harry understood it from Minerva but I'd like to hear the real version of events. After all, Harry's of the opinion you're dead."

"Obtaining the locket was…difficult and draining," Albus said. "The potion that I had to drink was dangerous and I was in very poor shape when we came back. I suspect that if I had not gotten the help I did I would have died within a few hours of returning. Of course we saw the Dark Mark over the school and we got back as quickly as we could. I had us land on the battlements because it was one of the few areas that would provide sufficient hiding spots. I sent Harry to get Severus and when he turned I soundlessly cast the Simulacrum spell then used the full body bind on Harry before hiding. He was hidden under his Invisibility Cloak so he would be relatively safe."

Albus sighed. "As it turned out I was just in time. The door to the school opened and Draco emerged with Fenrir Greyback and some Death Eaters. I knew word would have gotten to Severus and I dragged things out long enough for him to arrive. I was confident that Draco would not be able to kill me but I was far more worried about Fenrir. Even outside of the full moon, werewolves have an enhanced sense of smell. I was terribly afraid that he would pick up the scents of two other people on the battlements, myself and Harry. When Severus arrived, I knew the time had come. I knew he would take the opportunity that had been provided to fulfil the Vow, I just had to make sure he knew it was the Simulacrum. So I pleaded with him. I knew he would understand such an uncharacteristic action."

"So you died," Abe said.

"So I died," Albus repeated. "I trusted that Severus would get Draco and the Death Eaters out of there quickly. I cancelled the spell on Harry knowing he'd think that it was because I had died. He also left and I made my way down to Severus' office. I have the ability to become invisible as you know. I was able to dose myself well enough to get out of Hogwarts for I could not risk being found there. I made my way to the Shrieking Shack. I knew Severus would think to look there when he was able to get away. The potions I had taken allowed me to last until he could get there and treat me more accurately."

"So what are you going to do now?" Abe asked.

"Remain dead," Albus said firmly. "Severus is safely ensconced as Voldemort's favourite and is unlikely to be dislodged any time soon. As distasteful as that is for Severus, it is highly useful. My reappearance would have a very deleterious effect on Severus' longevity. We shall work through you, Abe, since you have seen fit to throw your lot in with Harry. You have numerous contacts so we shall be able to feed information to the Order via some of these supposed contacts."

"Oh, alright," Abe grumbled. "Just make sure you launder the information appropriately. I don't want to have to answer six thousand questions about my sources and have people get suspicious. What will you be doing?"

"I will stay here mostly," Albus replied. "I may venture out in disguise a few times but I don't want to risk anyone finding out that I am not dead."

Abe nodded as Severus rose to his feet.

"I must go," the Potions Master said. "I cannot afford to be absent for too long." He bowed briefly to both men. "Albus. Aberforth."

The two old men watched Severus sweep out of the room then Abe looked over at his brother.

"He's put himself in a lot of danger," Abe said mildly. "The Order want him dead…slowly and painfully."

Albus sighed. "I know, Abe," he said regretfully. "But there is nothing that can be done. Severus has never been able to get this close before and we'll need his information to track down the last of the Horcruxes."

"Everyone thinks Potter's a bloody genius for suspecting Snape even though you repeatedly told people he could be trusted," Abe observed with amusement.

"I'm sure they do and that is all for the good," Albus replied.

"You did it deliberately, didn't you?" Abe said with surprise. "Let Harry be the only one to be the voice of suspicion?"

"Well, not as such," Albus protested gently. "But perhaps I did not work _too_ hard to convince him of Severus' loyalty."

Abe frowned. "You knew something like the Vow was going to happen?"

Albus shook his head. "No, that was an unfortunate set of circumstances. But there was always the possibility that Severus would have to do _something_ unpleasant to get closer to Voldemort. If that happened it would only be for the best for Harry to be seen as having the clearest vision regarding Severus."

"Is the Vow fulfilled?" Abe asked.

Albus nodded. "Severus said he felt the Vow end when he killed my Simulacrum. The Vow, while powerful, is not overly sophisticated. The ruse was enough to fool it into being completed."

"And why was getting Snape that close so important?" Abe asked.

"Because we do not know the location, and in one case the form, of the three Horcruxes Voldemort still possesses," Albus explained. "With any luck, Severus will be able to find that information."

"How on earth are you going to get that information to the Order in such a fashion that they will believe it?" Abe asked with exasperation.

"I shall have to think on that," Albus replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

Abe shook his head then snorted with amused disbelief. "People are going to kill you when this is all over, Albus. They're going to shout at you and then they're going to kill you."

Albus chuckled. "I daresay it will be a contest to see if Harry, Molly or Minerva are at the head of that list. Now, help me back to bed. I promised Severus I would behave myself. He says if I have a relapse because I overdid it he's going tie me to the bed for a week."

Abe chuckled as he helped his brother rise. "Good on him. Glad you've got someone to keep you under control."

When Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived back at Grimmauld Place they were startled by the flash of fire that appeared in front of them. They relaxed when the phoenix that had appeared at the meeting flew around them. It landed on Harry's shoulder and gave him a reproachful look.

"I'm sorry," Harry said to the phoenix. "I forgot. I wasn't exactly expecting to get a phoenix today."

The phoenix made a sound that was almost a snicker and started preening itself.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I suppose I ought to give you a name then. Are you a boy?"

The phoenix gave an affirmative chirp.

Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione. "Any ideas for a name?"

"I think that's your job," Hermione said with a smile.

Harry rolled his eyes and the three of them headed upstairs to get some sleep.

The next morning when Ron and Harry came downstairs, they found that Hermione was already up and, according to Dobby, waiting for them in the library. The boys looked at each other and shrugged before eating their breakfast as quickly as possible. They then headed for the library where Hermione was sitting as one of the table, several piles of parchment in front of her.

"I finished transcribing everything from the Prince's book," she said with satisfaction. They'd all taken to referring to the book's owner as the Prince, not really wanting to mention Snape's name. "And I've sorted everything out. We need to get the potions laboratory going as quickly as possible. Because these potions are going to take the longest to prepare."

Harry walked over and flicked through that pile. Veritaserum, Polyjuice, Skele-Gro and right at the top of the list, Felix Felicis. "Doesn't Felix Felicis take six months to brew?"

Hermione nodded. "That's why I want to get it underway as soon as possible otherwise it won't be ready until after Christmas." She paused. "It was unbelievable how useful it was that night. It was like we knew _exactly_ where we had to be to get things done. I understand why you acted like you did the night you used it, Harry. Some of what we did seemed crazy but was absolutely perfect."

Harry gave her a wry look. "You were really lucky?" he suggested.

Hermione laughed softly. "Yes, I suppose we were."

Ron walked over at looked through a second pile. "Pepper-up Potion? Dreamless Sleep? Isn't that one used for headaches? Why these ones?"

"Because with…with Snape gone, the Order would have to buy these and they can get expensive," Hermione explained. "I think between the three of us we can make all of these. That will make life a lot easier for the Order members who go on any sort of mission and us for that matter."

"Good thinking," Harry said as he moved onto the other piles of parchment. "What are these?"

"Spells," Hermione said. "Some from the Prince's book but most are from our textbooks. We'll have to talk to Moody about it but I think these are a good place to start for our training. We need to learn all of them and we need to learn how to cast them soundlessly too." She straightened the piles of parchment. "And Harry, you and Ron need to get your Apparition licences."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said as Ron groaned. He then picked up a piece of parchment that was sitting on its own. "So what's this?"

"Our shopping list," Hermione said. "Everything we're going to need for the potions laboratory and a few other things I think might be useful. We should go this morning. Moody's not arriving until this afternoon so we've got time."

Harry nodded. "Okay. Let's get ready and go."

The three of them headed upstairs and got ready. When Harry walked down in his new long overcoat, Ron had whistled in appreciation and Hermione had rolled her eyes.

"What is _that_?" she said with exasperation.

"It's an overcoat, Hermione," Harry replied with a grin.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer then threw her hands in the air and turned towards the kitchen with a muttered, "Boys!"

Harry laughed and followed her, with Ron behind him and the three of them Flooed through to the Leaky Cauldron. They waved a hello to Tom and hurried through the pub, making their way into Diagon Alley. Their first stop was Gringotts where Harry withdrew a large sum of money from his vault and enquired about alternate methods of paying for expensive items. He was told the shopkeeper could make a direct deduction from his vault and that the shopkeeper would give him a magical piece of parchment to sign to authorise the transfer.

"Are you sure you want to pay for all of this?" Hermione asked as they walked out of the bank. "Surely the Order has funds for these sorts of things."

"It's okay, Hermione," Harry assured her. "I'm happy to spend my money on this."

"Where to now?" Ro asked as they stood on the steps of the bank.

"The Apothecary," Hermione said firmly heading in that direction.

When they entered the dim, cool shop, the proprietor came forward. "Ah, welcome, welcome. What can I do for you? It's unusual to have students come in at the start of the holidays."

"We're not exactly students," Hermione said briskly as she slapped her piece of parchment down on the counter. "As you can see, we wish to set up a potions laboratory and we need sufficient quantities of all of these items."

The proprietor looked down at the list then back up at Hermione. "I can't sell some of these things to a student, miss, and this will be terribly expensive."

"I am of age," Hermione said dismissively. "And the cost is no consideration. We have the funds."

The proprietor looked down at the list and Harry could almost see his eyes light up at the thought of the number of galleons this was going to bring in to him.

"Very well, then, miss, sirs," the proprietor said rubbing his hands together. "This will take a bit of time. Perhaps if you were to come back in, say, an hour?"

"That will be fine," Hermione said calmly and the three of them left.

"What now?" Ron asked.

"Flourish and Blotts," Hermione said. "We'll just split up and go through the whole shop and select any books we think might be useful."

"What fun," Ron said dryly as they headed for the bookshop.

An hour later they left, each with a magically enlarged bag full of books, and headed back to the apothecary. They walked in to find several large trunks on the floor in front of the counter. The proprietor was just placing some bottles of ingredients in one of the trunks and closing it as they walked in. He looked up and beamed at them.

"It's all ready, miss, sirs," he said. "I've been generous with your supplies since you said money was not an object. The only thing I couldn't supply was the Phoenix Tears. I've not had any in stock for over a year now. They're dreadfully hard to obtain."

"That's alright. We'll make do," Hermione said with a slight smile, obviously thinking of Harry's still-unnamed phoenix then she looked at the six large trunks with trepidation.

Harry tapped her on the shoulder. "It's alright. I have an idea. Dobby!"

There was a small pop and Dobby appeared next to Harry.

"Harry Potter summoned Dobby?" the little house elf asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, Dobby," Harry said. "Could you take these trunks and our bags home please?"

"Dobby would be happy to do that," Dobby said looking pleased.

The little house elf took the bags from each of them and placed them on top of one of the trunks. Then he stood amongst the trunk and snapped his fingers. The trunks, bags and Dobby all disappeared.

Harry then walked up to the counter. "How much?"

The proprietor named a sum that caused Hermione to gasp and Ron to blanch. Harry didn't react; he knew he had a hundred times more than that sum in his vault…at least. He asked the proprietor to deduct it from his vault and the man quickly prepared the bill. Harry signed it and they walked out of the Apothecary. From there Harry led them over to Madam Malkin's where he organised for each of them to be measured for duelling robes. Madam Malkin served them herself and once the measuring had been done she told them it would be at least a week before they were ready. Then she asked them what spells they would like to have woven into the fabric, presenting them with a list. They looked it over and selected as many of the protective spells as the fabric would take then Harry paid for the robes and they left the store.

"Let's go and speak to the twins," Harry said as they emerged into the daylight. "I want to get them started on a couple of projects."

"The werewolf protection?" Ron asked as they walked along Diagon Alley towards the twins' shop.

Harry nodded. "Remember the brother of the Montgomery sisters? Greyback doesn't care about how old the children are. Wasn't he just five or something?"

Hermione nodded, looking slightly sick. "Yes, he was."

"So that has to be an absolute priority," Harry finished firmly.

He pushed the door of the shop open and they walked in, a little bell tinkling over their heads. The shop was empty at the moment and the twins bounded out at the sound of the bell.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" they burst out.

"Come to do some shopping?" Fred said with a grin.

"Going to prank Voldemort to death?" George suggested with an identical grin.

Harry shook his head and gestured for the twins to head out back. "I've got a couple of jobs for the two of you."

The twins sobered. "Whatever you want, Harry."

They were led out to a workroom and the twins cleared off some stools for them.

"Have you taken that Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder off the shelves?" Ron asked a little harshly.

Fred and George nodded soberly. "Yeah and we've put out a recall notice in the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler. Said that it's proved to be unstable. We won't get all of it back but we've got most of it. It's in the back. We're only selling it to the Ministry and we're giving it to the Order."

"Good," Ron said firmly.

"Guys, I've got a project for you," Harry said, gaining the twins' full attention. "You know that Fenrir Greyback is working for Voldemort?" The twins nodded. "I want you to come up with something to hurt or repel werewolves that kids can easily use or wear. Greyback likes to go after children and he doesn't care how old they are. One of his victims was _five_." He paused. "He died."

The twins nodded thoughtfully. "Werewolf repellent for kids," Fred muttered.

"Nice challenge, Harry," George added.

Harry hesitated for a moment. "You might want to ask Remus if he could help but don't you dare hurt him. You'll answer to me if you do…that's if Tonks doesn't get you first."

"Well, if it's a repellent, just something to keep them at bay until help arrives, then it doesn't necessarily have to be lethal," Fred said, scribbling something on a piece of parchment.

"That might be a better idea," George said to his twin. "That way we might be able to lure some werewolves over to our side by saying 'see, we're _not_ trying to kill you'."

Fred made some last notes then looked over at Harry. "Anything else?"

"We're going to need a supply of all of your more serious items," Harry said.

The twins nodded.

"We'll put a package together," George said, making some notes on the parchment Fred had been writing on.

"We'll include some of our more experimental items," Fred added. "The ones that work, of course," he added hastily at Hermione's expression.

"We'll deliver it to Headquarters tomorrow morning," George finished.

"Thanks, guys," Harry said with a smile.

Fred waved an airy hand. "No problems, Harry, my boy."

"Always glad of a challenge," George added.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood and made their way out of the shop. They needed to get back to Grimmauld Place. Moody would be arriving some time soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When they Flooed back to Grimmauld Place they found Mrs Weasley in the kitchen discussing lunch plans with Dobby.

"Mum! What are you doing here?" Ron said with surprise.

"Someone made an attempt on the wards around the Burrow last night," Mrs Weasley said calmly after she and Dobby decided on sandwiches for lunch. "Arthur decided to move us all here." She looked over at Harry. "Is that alright?"

"Of course, Mrs Weasley!" Harry said fervently. "Is everyone alright?"

"Of course, Harry dear," Mrs Weasley said soothingly as she tied an apron around her waist. "They couldn't get through the wards though they did wake us all up. Bill and Fleur, Charlie and Ginny are getting settled in upstairs. Charlie's moved home permanently now."

"We were just with the twins," Ron said with a frown. "They didn't say anything about this."

"Your father was going to drop round and tell them at lunch," Mrs Weasley said.

"Remind me to tell them where Headquarters is at some point," Harry said. "I didn't do that while we were there."

"You already did," Ron said with a quizzical look. "They were at the Order meeting."

Harry blinked then shook his head. "Oh, yeah. I forgot."

"You're too young to start getting senile, Harry," Ron said with a grin causing Harry to roll his eyes.

"We need to get set up," Hermione said to Harry and Ron, trying not to laugh.

They nodded and the three friends excused themselves and headed downstairs to the cellar. They'd decided during the week to set up the cellar as the potions laboratory and training area and Hermione and Ron had reorganized the room. Harry was still chafing a bit at the restriction on using magic but was trying to be as patient as he could. He didn't have that long to wait until he came of age and then he would be free to do whatever he liked.

Hermione and Ron had asked Dobby and Kreacher to move all of the rubbish up to the attic and had split the room into two. Several large tables had been moved down into the section of the room that was to be the potions laboratory and Dobby had taken care of the areas for the cauldrons. Cupboards for the ingredients and several bookshelves were placed along one wall. The other room had been largely left alone; they would add things to it once they had consulted Moody.

They got down there to find Dobby had left the trunks and their bags in the middle of the room and they unpacked the trunks under the supervision of Hermione. The more dangerous and volatile ingredients went into two of the locked cupboards after Hermione had warded them as best as she knew how. The remaining ingredients went into a third cupboard while the various equipment required filled a fourth. All of the potions books they had bought were placed in one bookshelf and the Prince's book was tucked in amongst them.

Finally Hermione looked around in satisfaction and pronounced herself satisfied. Just as she did so they heard Mrs Weasley's voice call them up for lunch. The trooped upstairs to find the kitchen full of Weasleys and Dobby and Fleur fighting a losing battle to get Mrs Weasley to sit down and let them do the work. Harry and Ron exchanged amused looks and sat down at the table.

"How's everything going?" came a quiet voice from beside Harry.

He looked around to find he'd inadvertently sat down next to Ginny. "Pretty good," he said after a moment's hesitation. "I see Fleur's doing well." He paused. "She's still ugly though."

Ginny grinned then screwed up her face. "I think I'm going to have to change my mind about her. I think she was trying a bit too hard before. She's been a lot better since we got back from school." She paused and gave a reluctant sigh. "I guess she and Bill really are in love."

"How's Bill been?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Okay," Ginny said. "He's a little different. Remus was right. He's more…wolfish."

"He looks leaner," Harry observed.

Ginny nodded. "He is. Remus said he might be sensitive around the full moon but he wasn't entirely sure." She paused. "He's still pretty much the same old Bill though." She paused again. "With added Phlegm."

Harry snorted with laughter then tried desperately to smother it when a few people stared at him. He really didn't want to have to explain what he found so funny. Mrs Weasley had finally beaten off Fleur and Dobby and plunked down several plates of sandwiches on the table. Everyone made a beeline for the food and the only sounds for the next half an hour were those of eating and drinking. Once they'd finished, Harry, Ron and Hermione thanked Mrs Weasley for the meal, grabbed Hermione's collection of parchment from the library then disappeared downstairs again to wait for Moody to arrive.

It wasn't long before they heard the thunking sound of someone descending the stairs then the door opened and Moody stumped into the room. He looked around the laboratory and gave an approving nod.

"Good setup," he growled. "Got someplace more suited to these lessons you want?"

Harry nodded. "Next door," he said leading the way into the large space they had left.

Moody looked around the large room approvingly. "Good work. I'll have to spend some time putting up some wards and whatnot." He looked over at Harry. "Oh, before I forget. I had a quiet word to Mafalda Hopkirk. She's agreed to waive the Restriction for Underage Magic for you."

Harry looked surprised. "Oh, thank you."

Moody waved off Harry's thanks and stumped around the room, examining every corner meticulously. Harry and his friends stayed where they were and watched the ex-Auror at work. When Moody finally made it back to where they were standing, he looked very satisfied.

"This will do fine," he growled. "Now, let's go back into that other room. We can sit down and you can tell me what you want out of these training sessions."

As they walked back into the laboratory, Harry's phoenix appeared in a burst of flame. He flew around the lab before settling on Harry's shoulder.

"I suppose you want a name," Harry said to the bird.

The phoenix warbled impatiently and Ron and Hermione snickered.

"What about Casimir?" Moody suggested. "I knew a bloke from somewhere in Eastern Europe called that. He told me it meant peacemaker."

Harry looked at the phoenix. "Well?" he asked. "Do you like Casimir?"

The phoenix seemed to consider it for a moment then gave an approving warble.

"Casimir it is then," Harry said with a nod. "The peacemaker. Let's hope that's an omen."

"Alright," Moody said decisively, sitting down on a stool at one of the tables. "What kind of ideas have the three of you come up with so far?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione took seats at the table as well and Hermione summoned her list of spells.

"These are all the spells I thought might be useful," she said with a hint of hesitation that slowly disappeared as Moody showed no signs of disapproval. "Most of these are from our textbooks. This lot are from…well, from a book Harry found. And these are from some of the books in the library here. I thought they might be a good starting place."

Moody took the lists from her and looked through them carefully.

"We were thinking that we should learn how to cast them soundlessly as well," Hermione added.

Moody nodded. "This is a good start. I've got several I could add to the list. Now, what I need to know is how much physical stuff do you want to learn? Auror training involves more than just spellwork. I can teach you everything they learn and I can also teach you a bit of armed and unarmed combat. Picked up a few Muggle techniques over the years that are damned useful."

"Anything that might be useful," Harry said firmly. "So yes, I think we should learn some combat techniques."

Moody nodded. "Alright. I'll need to spend the rest of today setting up the wards. Tomorrow we'll get stuck into things. I expect to see the three of you down here at eight am. Don't eat too much breakfast; I won't have any sympathy if you throw up."

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous looks as Moody got to his feet. The ex-Auror stumped towards the door to the training room then suddenly turned and eyed them sharply.

"Those cloak pins you lot were wearing last night," he said. "Noticed you were all wearing the same symbol. Any significance?"

Harry nodded. "We thought that if we were going to do this, we ought to have some kind of symbol. Something for Voldemort to fear. Hermione came up with the idea of the Trinity."

Moody eyed them closely for a long moment then barked with laughter. "Good idea. The Trinity, I like it." He turned and walked into the training room, shooting one last amused comment over his shoulder before he closed the door. "Unholy Trinity, if you ask me, what you lot want to do."

Harry snorted with amusement then frowned at Ron and Hermione's expressions. "What? He's right, at least from Voldemort's point of view, we'll be an unholy Trinity."

Hermione still looked disapproving as she stood. "I'm going to start on some of these long-term potions. If you two want to make yourselves useful, you can start on some of these other potions."

"I might pass on that," Ron said. "I'm going to go upstairs and continue looking through the library. We've still got to find out about those Horcruxes."

Hermione nodded and she prodded Harry towards the list of potions to be brewed. "Start with the Pepper-up and the headache potion."

Harry gave Hermione a mock salute and pulled the parchment towards him as Ron headed up the stairs. Then the two of them settled into their brewing.

The next morning Harry, Ron and Hermione were downstairs waiting outside their new training room promptly at eight. Moody had told them when he left the previous evening that they would have to wait until he arrived to get in as he would have to key the wards to each of them. They didn't have to wait long before Moody came down the stairs. He looked over what they were wearing and grunted his approval. He then placed his hand on a small brass plate that he had affixed to the door. He then gestured for Harry to come forward.

"Place your hand on the plate," he barked and Harry hurried to obey. Once he had, Moody tapped the plate once with his wand and said, "Agnosco."

The plate became warm under Harry's hand and glowed momentarily then Moody gestured for Harry to step back. He repeated the process with Ron and Hermione then opened the door and gestured for them to enter. They walked in to find an empty room. That didn't last long as Moody took several shrunken trunks out of his pockets, enlarged them and started to empty them. He flicked his wand and various sets of equipment flew to lie against the walls. Once the trunks had been emptied, shrunken again and placed on a bookshelf Moody had brought, the ex-Auror turned and faced them.

"Right, first thing," he growled. He flicked his wand at one wall and a figure appeared. "Copy what the figure does and do some warm-up stretches."

Ron looked a trifle confused but both Harry and Hermione started following along.

Once they had finished with their stretching, Moody walked over in front of them. "We need to work on your fitness. Not much point running away from a dangerous situation if you collapse within five minutes." He stared at them for a moment then barked, "What are you waiting for? Start running laps of the room!"

The three students jumped and began running.

"Pace yourselves!" Moody yelled. "You'll be running for ten minutes. No stopping!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione groaned and slowed their pace somewhat. Hermione was the first one to start showing signs of fatigue, as she did not have the base fitness Quidditch required. She tried vainly to keep up with Ron and Harry but eventually had to slow down, clutching at her side.

"Don't stop, Granger," Moody growled. "I don't care how fast you go, just keep moving."

Hermione nodded weakly and slowed even further. Harry was the next to drop off the pace; Seekers spend most of their time circling slowly, only speeding up when they sight the snitch. Ron was the last to show signs of fatigue. Moody watched them all balefully, verbally prodding them when they looked like slowing enough to stop. Finally he looked down at his watch and called them to a halt.

"Don't stop!" he bellowed as Hermione began to sink to the ground. "Keep walking or your muscles will seize up."

The three students kept very slowly circling the room, hands on hip and breathing hard.

"You'll do this every morning," Moody said. "Stretch then ten minutes, no stopping. I shouldn't have to supervise this. It's going to be up to the three of you to have the discipline to keep going. At the end of the week, you up it to fifteen minutes. The week after that, twenty minutes and so on until you're running a half hour each day. Make sure you walk for five minutes after you finish jogging. If you just stop straight out, you'll do yourself some damage."

He watched them warm down walking around the room. Once they had finished that he started them on spell work. First he had them throw the spell he called out, one by one at the rear wall, explaining to them that he had reinforced the warding to absorb the magic. He walked up and down behind them, correcting their pronunciation, wand movement and stance before he would allow them to move on. Once they had it down perfectly speaking it aloud, he made them do it non-verbally. This proved to be a little more difficult and after an hour they had only worked through four spells. Moody ordered them to take a break and they sank down to the floor where they were standing.

"Not bad," Moody said, nodding his head in approval.

"Really?" Harry asked.

"For Sixth Year students, yes," Moody replied. "Normally you'd have another year of teaching before you went into Auror training. Think of what I'll be doing for the moment as a kind of hothouse process. Getting you as far as I can as fast as I can so that we can start in on the really serious stuff." He eyed them with amused approval for a moment longer. "Right! Up! Try Reducto this time."

The three students groaned and pushed themselves to their feet before obeying their orders.

Moody spent the rest of the morning working on their spellcasting. As they all tramped up the stairs for lunch, the three students were feeling exhausted. Moody however seemed rather chipper.

"We'll start doing some work on unarmed combat after lunch," he said with an amused look.

"Really?" Harry said weakly.

Moody laughed uproariously, his coarse laughter sounding loud in the stairwell. "You can't stop now, Potter. You have to learn how to fight when tired. Besides how else are you going to build up your endurance except by actually doing things?"

"We didn't exactly think this all the way through, did we?" Ron said with a hint of desperation.

"No," Harry replied as he pushed the kitchen door open. "But do you really want to stop?"

Ron was silent for a long moment as they dropped into chairs around the table. "No, I suppose not. We said we'd stick with you and I guess this is part of it."

Harry looked over to Hermione. The bushy haired girl was resting her head on her arm and her eyes were closed. "Hermione? Still with us?"

She opened her eyes. "Yes," she said in a small voice.

Mrs Weasley eyed them with amusement as she placed bowls of soup and plates of bread on the table. She gently smoothed Hermione's hair. "Sit up, dear," she said kindly. "You'll feel better when you get some food into you. I'll ask Charlie to get you all some of the liniment he uses. Looking after dragons can be a terribly physical business and he says this liniment works a treat on tired muscles."

The three students murmured words of thanks and slowly ate their lunch. Once they were done, Moody chivvied them back downstairs and, with a flick of his wand, transformed the room into something more appropriate for physical work. Basically this meant making the floor softer so they didn't damage themselves when they fell. And that is where he started; making sure they knew how to fall without hurting themselves.

He explained that no one could stay on their feet all the time and what you did after you fell, whether that fall was deliberate or accidental, was important. If you just lay there like a stunned mullet you were asking to be hurt or killed. He impressed upon the importance of not staying still, no matter how winded or stunned you were by the fall. He told them that by the time he was finished with them they would instinctively move after falling. The easiest move was to keep going with the fall, to turn the fall into a roll, and this is what he began with.

Harry, Ron and Hermione soon found that no matter how soft the floor was, it still hurt when you hit it. Moody threw them over his shoulder again and again and growled at them if they did not perform as he wanted. When the grizzled ex-Auror finally called the training session to a halt, Harry, Ron and Hermione were lying on the floor feeling bruised, battered but with at least some sense of accomplishment.

"Not bad," Moody said as he walked around them. "Well, Potter? Am I earning my keep?"

Harry gave a small huff of laughter. "Yes, I'd say you are."

Moody growled a chuckle. "You'll find it's all worth it when the chips are down. Trust me on that. See you tomorrow."

With that Moody stumped out of the room and they soon heard his progress up the stairs.

"You know, I'm not sure I can actually move at the moment," Ron said in a conversational tone.

"Oh, I _know_ I can't move," Hermione groaned.

Harry wiggled his shoulders to make them a little more comfortable on the floor. "Yeah, staying right here sounds good."

Just as he had uttered those words, the enchantment Moody had put on the floor ended and the trio found themselves suddenly lying on the cold, hard, uncomfortable floorboards.

"Argh," Ron said as he shot into a sitting position then he yelped again as he slumped down almost immediately in reaction to the soreness in his muscles.

Harry and Hermione slowly levered themselves into a sitting position, both muttering under their breath. A stifled chuckle made them look over at the doorway where Charlie and Ginny were standing looking highly amused.

"Mum sent Ginny and I down with these," Charlie said, holding up a small jar. Ginny did the same. "She thought I could look after you and Ron, Harry, and Ginny could take care of Hermione." He paused and grinned. "But you'll have to get up first."

Ginny walked over to Hermione and helped her stand up. The two girls then headed out into the potions laboratory, closing the door behind them. Charlie walked over to the two boys and crouched down.

"It does get easier," he said sympathetically. "I was nearly paralysed with muscle soreness after my first day on the job." He held up the jar again. "Trust me, this stuff works wonders."

Harry pushed himself to his feet and swayed for a moment. "What do I need to do?"

"Take of your shirt and I'll rub this into your back and shoulders," Charlie instructed as he took the lid of the jar.

Harry slowly pulled his shirt off, wincing as the muscles in his back, shoulders and chest complained with every movement. Charlie gestured for him to come over to the side of the room where he'd placed the jar on a table. Harry did so and turned his back when Charlie instructed him. He winced and yelped as Charlie started rubbing the salve in with firm hands but then sighed with relief as the salve started working. He could almost feel his muscles loosening and the pain fading.

"Right," Charlie said when he finished with Harry's shoulders. "You do your arms and chest while I get stuck into Ron."

Harry nodded as Charlie walked over and teased his younger brother in getting to his feet. Ron complained initially but soon he too sighed with relief as the salve took effect and began to work on his own arms and chest.

Harry leaned against the table as he pulled his shirt back on and he sniffed the air. "Smells like cinnamon," he said idly.

Charlie nodded as he put the lid on the jar. "Yeah, one of the other dragon handlers used to complain about it. Said he wasn't sure wanted to run around smelling like a pastry. The rest of us didn't much care what we smelled like as long as we could move." He offered the jar to Harry. "Keep that, you'll need it. I'll get some more."

Just then Ginny opened the door again. "We're done," she said. "Mum will have dinner ready soon."

Harry took the jar and led the others back into the potions laboratory where Hermione was inspecting the cauldrons containing the long term potion she was brewing. She looked rather satisfied so Harry assumed all was going well. The two girls joined them as they headed upstairs. When they got into the corridor, Harry came to a sudden stop and looked down at the curtains hanging on the wall down the passage.

"Mrs Black hasn't been making much of a fuss," he said with a frown. "And we haven't exactly been quiet."

Ginny sniggered from behind him. "Go and have a look," she urged with a grin. "It's worth it."

Harry gave her a curious look but obediently wandered down the corridor and flung open the curtains. Mrs Black's portrait was still there but painted over her mouth was a colourful gag. It was pink with a blue and yellow flower pattern. Mrs Black's eyes were bulging but nothing more than stray sounds were escaping the gag. Harry stared at the sight in front of him then slowly started laughing. Ron and Hermione, who had come to have a look, joined in.

"Who did _that_?" Harry asked Ginny between laughter.

"I think it was Dobby," she replied merrily. "At least, he changes the subject _very_ quickly when we ask about it."

Harry looked back at the portrait and flicked the curtains closed. "Well, whoever did it has my complete approval. That is wonderful!"

The revelation of Mrs Black's silencing meant that the group that entered the kitchen was cheerful and laughing and the sight seemed to please Mrs Weasley. She smiled as she fussed them into seats around the table and smiled again as Bill and Fleur joined them. Mr Weasley flooed in not long afterwards and the dinner started in an air of cheerfulness that had not existed since the death of the Headmaster.

Halfway through dinner, Harry leaned back in his chair and looked around the happy group. "You know, Professor Dumbledore would like this," he observed.

There was a small silence as everyone considered that.

"Yes, he would," Mrs Weasley said softly. "He always did like to see people sitting around a table enjoying their food and good fellowship."

Harry nodded as something that had been lurking in the back of his mind crystallised. "This is why Ron, Hermione and I are doing what we're doing. If Voldemort wins, this sort of thing won't happen." He paused and said firmly. "And I _like_ this sort of thing."

"You know, the Death Eaters call us blood traitors," Bill said with a small smile. "That's because we don't swan around like money and our blood line is the most important thing in life but quite frankly, I'll take growing up in this family to growing up in a family like the Malfoys any day." He paused and his smile flourished into a fully-fledged grin. "This is much more fun."

"Bill is right," Fleur said, entwining her fingers with her fiancé's. "Thees ees what _family_ ees all about."

Molly beamed at her soon-to-be daughter-in-law and the rest of the table dissolved into laughter. It seemed that that one comment alone reserved Fleur a permanent place in Mrs Weasley's good graces. The talk quickly devolved into discussion of the upcoming wedding with Bill and Fleur determined to have it at the Burrow no matter what the risks. Mr Weasley hummed for a moment then decided to ask the Ministry to have security upgraded for that day while Molly fussed over what the dresses for the bridesmaids should be like. Harry just watched all of this with a big smile on his face and wallowed in the feeling of family.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Severus Snape hurried through the Forest near Hogwarts, pulling his cloak closer around him and keeping to the shadows as much as he could. It was well after midnight so he wasn't worried about running into any of the Hogwarts teachers but he was concerned about the inhabitants of the Forest. He was unlikely to get a friendly or even neutral greeting from the centaurs and Hagrid's idiot brother was still in here somewhere.

He slipped out of the Forest and into the outskirts of Hogsmeade, being careful to avoid the buildings that still showed signs of life. The Hog's Head was clearly still open even at this hour and Severus stole around to the back door and very carefully let himself in. He made his way to the back stairs and carefully depressed the section of wall that would open the passageway leading down. He slid into the stairwell and closed the door behind him before making his way soundlessly down the stairs. He opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and carefully entered the room beyond. A quick glance showed him that only the Headmaster was in the room and he appeared to have fallen asleep while reading in his bed.

Severus removed his long black cloak and flung it and the white mask that was hidden within it onto the couch. He sighed as he walked over to the credenza and poured himself a glass of wine from the carafe that had been left there. He slowly sipped the wine, letting the tension slide out of his shoulders.

"Are you well, Severus?" came the quite voice from behind him, startling him slightly.

"You are supposed to be resting," he growled as he turned around to see the Headmaster watching him with concern.

"I have been," Albus replied, his eyes twinkling at the Potions Master's grumpy reply. "I have been very obedient. Poppy would not credit it if she could see me."

Severus grumbled as he sank down into the comfortable armchair next to the bed.

"I am more worried about you, my boy," Albus continued. "It has been nearly two weeks since I have seen you. Is all well?"

"How can anything be _well_?" Severus snarled then he sighed and waved an apologetic hand. "Forgive me, Albus. Things have been…tense. The Dark Lord has been keeping me close at hand." He smirked maliciously. "His snake is quite ill."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "I see. How unfortunate for Tom. And what is the prognosis for poor Nagini?"

"I fear she is not long for this world," Severus replied blandly. "Nothing I brew seems to help. I was dismissed this evening to try and find a solution."

"And will you?" Albus asked innocently, his eyes twinkling madly.

"After to going to all that effort to poison her?" Snape asked with sly amusement. "I should think not."

"Have you had any inkling if he intends to replace her with another Horcrux?" Albus asked intently.

"He has spoken of it in the most oblique terms. He talks of her as being a Vessel," Severus replied shortly. "But he was wounded last year and has not recovered well. His reflexes are still slow and he weakens easily." He paused and smirked again. "I have been encouraging that as subtly as I can. He is agitated about this because he feels it would preclude him creating another Vessel."

"Do any of the Death Eaters know what he is speaking about when he uses that term?"

Severus shook his head. "No. They believe that she has been used as part of some ritual but none have connected that with the idea of a Horcrux." He snorted. "What sane person would?"

"Have you made any progress on finding the remaining two Horcruxes?" Albus asked.

"Not as such," Severus replied. "But I believe the information must be among his personal things. Getting that close will take time."

Albus nodded. "Perhaps it might be best to allow Nagini's health to improve before her final demise. Surely Tom would look favourably upon that, no matter what eventually happens to her?"

"Perhaps," Severus allowed. "It is certainly worth the effort."

There was a comfortable silence between the two men as Severus sipped at his wine and Albus eyed him with a mix of approval and worry.

"What is Potter up to?" Severus asked suddenly.

"Preparing," Albus replied succinctly. "He, Miss Granger and Mr Weasley are being trained by Alastor Moody, according to Abe's information. Apparently Alastor has been telling anyone who asks that they are the best students he has ever had. He is exceedingly pleased with their progress. It seems motivation makes a wonderful taskmaster."

"And the locket?"

"Abe handed over the information he found amongst my belongings at last night's meeting," Albus said. "I believe it will not take Harry and Miss Granger long to decipher my notes. Then we will see if Harry believes in himself enough to try destroying the Horcrux contained within the locket."

Severus snorted derisively. "The boy has had enough self-belief to go running into danger every year he has been at the school. Why would this be any different?"

Albus chuckled. "True enough. Though this is a danger of a different magnitude."

Severus grunted sourly. "He is your typical Gryffindor. More courage than sense."

"Is that so?" Albus replied slyly. "Then what would be your reaction to hearing that Harry and Miss Granger are providing potions for the Order…and using _your_ improved instructions from _your_ Advanced Potions book? Odd that such a passionate Gryffindor would put aside his apparent hatred to use what he knows is best. Even more so when you hear that many of the spells he and his friends are working so hard to perfect are from that very same book. Apparently Mr Potter was overheard saying that they could be useful and he would not discard anything useful just because he does not like its origins."

Severus' eyes narrowed then he scowled, refusing to answer. Albus chuckled and patted his arm.

"Now, now, Severus," he said soothingly. "I would be flattered if I were you."

Severus' scowl deepened and he stood sharply. "I must go," he snapped. "I cannot be away for too long."

Albus watched with amusement as his Potions Master stalked over to the couch and gathered up his cloak and mask.

Severus flung the cloak around his shoulders then paused with one hand on the door. "Keep taking those potions," he said neutrally. "And keep resting. There is time enough for you to recover."

"Anything you say, dear boy," Albus replied and Severus slipped out of the room and into the night.

Harry sat in a window seat in the upstairs parlour at Grimmauld Place and gently stroked Casimir's feathers. The phoenix was perched on his upraised knees and Hedwig was sitting near his feet. Harry was staring out into the growing dark and worrying. Tonight was the full moon and he was worried not only for Remus but also for Bill. The eldest of the Weasley children had gone to Hogwarts this evening to use the Shrieking Shack since they did not know if the full moon would have any effect on him. Remus was locked up in room somewhere in the bowels of Hogwarts. With the betrayal of Snape, he had no Wolfsbane this month and would not have any more until Hermione managed to brew it. She had placed that on the top of her list and Harry knew she was feverishly studying the potion even as he sat here.

"Brooding again, I see," Ginny said softly from the doorway.

She walked across the room, lifting Hedwig up and sitting down where the owl had been. Hedwig seemed happy to perch in Ginny's lap and the red haired girl gently stroked the owl's feathers.

"Not really," Harry replied. "Just worried."

"About Remus?"

"And Bill," Harry said, looking at Ginny. "He's been a bit…well, short-tempered the last couple of days."

"I know," Ginny said, her voice full of concern. "Remus doesn't think Bill will change though."

Casimir let out a beautiful, liquid note and they both smiled to hear it.

"I think Casimir's given his opinion," Ginny said, smiling at the phoenix.

Harry chuckled dryly. "Casimir is full of opinions."

The phoenix gave Harry a distinctly amused look as Ginny laughed. Hedwig suddenly took flight and went to perch on one of the chairs and Ginny took the opportunity to lean against Harry's legs.

"Ginny," Harry protested softly.

Casimir seemed to take this as his cue to join Hedwig and Ginny crossed her arms on Harry's knees, resting her chin on them.

"I know," Ginny said with a quirk of a smile. "We broke up. To keep me safe." She snorted. "Well, as safe as possible." She cocked her head at Harry. "Well, I am safe, Harry. How could I be safer than here under Hermione's Fidelius?" She paused again and smiled wickedly. "Besides, who needs to know? You know as well as I do that my family would keep this under their hats if we asked. So would Hermione and everyone in the Order." Her expression became determined. "I didn't wait six years to get you just to let you go so easily. I'm a Weasley, Harry. We're very stubborn and we always get what we want in the end."

Harry felt his resolve starting to falter then he shored it up as best he could. "Ginny, you do realise I could die. Voldemort wants me dead and there's no guarantee he won't succeed."

Ginny's expression became fierce. "Rubbish," she growled. "And I'm not going to fall for that one, Mr Potter."

With a sudden move she leaned over his raised knees and kissed him. It resembled their first kiss, the one after Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup, and Harry felt his hastily raised resolve crumble. When they pulled apart, he ran a hand down the side of Ginny's face.

"It's a bit hard to argue with that," he said weakly.

"I know," Ginny said smugly then she sobered. "I'm not going to throw myself at you in public, Harry. I heard what you said at Dumbledore's funeral and I did understand. I know I'd be in an enormous amount of danger if people know that I'm your girlfriend but I happen to agree with Bill and Fleur. I don't think we should let Voldemort get in the way of our lives."

Harry looked out the window for a moment then turned back to Ginny and smiled. "You have a point there, I suppose."

Ginny took a ridiculously love-struck pose and batted her eyes ferociously at Harry. "Oh, a secret romance," she breathed, clearly trying desperately not to laugh. "How wonderful! How tragic!"

"How full of dragon dung," came the amused voice of Charlie from the doorway, causing both Harry and Ginny to collapse laughing. He walked into the room and eyed the laughing teens with a grin. "A secret romance, eh? In this house? You two are optimistic."

"I wasn't planning on keeping it secret from the family. I know that's impossible," Ginny said, leaning against Harry's legs again. "Just from the Death Eaters. And Voldemort. And anyone who might tell Voldemort and the Death Eaters."

"Ah, well, that's much better," Charlie replied.

"What's better?" Tonks asked brightly as she walked into the room, her hair neon pink.

"I didn't know you were here," Harry said with a smile.

Tonks shrugged and slumped down into a chair. "Yeah, well, McGonagall kicked me out of Hogwarts, didn't she? Said I was annoying the castle."

"He'll be fine…well, sort of anyway," Harry said, accurately divining the reason for Tonks' mood. "He's done this without Wolfsbane before."

Tonks sighed. "I know. It's just…" She shrugged again and smiled wryly. "We weren't…well, _official_ before."

"I'm glad you're official now," Harry said.

Tonks beamed and her hair changed from pink to bright purple. "Speaking of being official, that kind of gives me the right to say this." She hesitated for a moment. "He…wants to be closer to you but he's afraid of you're going to reject him or accuse him of trying to take Sirius' place," she said in a rush.

Harry blinked as he worked his way through that then his jaw dropped. "I wouldn't think either of those things," he said indignantly. "And yeah, I'd like to get to know Prof…_Remus_ better but I haven't exactly had a chance, have I? He was off doing Merlin only knows what with Greyback during the last year." He paused and looked concerned. "He hasn't gone back, has he?"

Tonks shook her head. "No, he didn't really like doing that. Only did it because Dumbledore insisted. He decided to rebel a bit. He'll only go back if you ask him to."

"Well, I'm not going to," Harry said firmly. "Remus shouldn't have to deal with Greyback."

Tonks smiled warmly. "Thank you, Harry. I…didn't like the idea of him being there."

Harry gave her a wry look. "I didn't notice at all." He looked around at his visitors. "You lot wouldn't be here deliberately to try and distract me, would you?"

"Hey, I had a reason for coming to speak to you," Ginny objected.

"So did I," Tonks said. "I wanted someone who was going to really sympathise."

"Mea culpa," Charlie said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I was sent up by Mum. She was worried about you. At least, the parts of her that aren't worried about Bill and Remus are worried about you." He paused and grinned. "Mind you, I was glad of any opportunity to get out of the kitchen. Between Mum and Fleur the place is going to be spotless and full of food."

Harry blinked and looked confused.

"They're alternately cooking and cleaning," Charlie elaborated.

"Why do I think there's not going to be a lot of sleeping going on here tonight?" Ginny said wryly.

Snorts of grim amusement greeted her words and Harry shifted so that he could wrap his arms around her.

"I think I'd better try," he said resting his chin on her shoulder. "I don't think Moody's going to accept any excuses."

Tonks eyed the two of them with a grin. "I see your resolution to stay away from Ginny didn't last long."

Harry laughed. "Blame Ginny."

"It's a _thecret romanthe_," Ginny said dramatically, lisping the words outrageously.

Tonks snickered. "My lips are sealed. Why the secret?"

"Because I'd be a powerful tool to use against Harry if Voldemort or the Death Eaters ever found out," Ginny said bluntly before Harry could answer.

Tonks, who had winced at the mention of Voldemort, nodded slowly. "Good point. I can see you've thought this through. That'll help when Molly finds out."

Ginny and Charlie snickered. "Mum's been trying to think of ways to get Harry and I together since I was eleven," Ginny replied pragmatically. "She won't care as long as we behave ourselves."

Harry blushed as Charlie laughed uproariously and Tonks grinned. In the middle of this laughter the door opened again and Ron and Hermione walked in. They looked a little startled at the mirth then walked over to the group near the windows.

"Well, that's _my_ plan out the window," Hermione said with a smile. "I dragged Ron up here because I thought we were going to have to cheer him up and what do I find? Laughing, happy people." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Harry and Ginny. "I thought that was all off?" she asked, waving her hand at them.

"Nope," Ginny replied. "I decided Harry was being stupidly noble and I wasn't having any of that." She paused and became serious. "We're going to keep it quiet though because he _did_ have a point."

Ron looked both pleased and uncomfortable. "Mum'll be pleased," he finally settled on saying.

There were snorts of laughter. "That's what we were laughing about when you two came in," Charlie said. He cocked his head to one side. "How's your training coming along?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione groaned in unison. "Moody's a slave driver," Ron moaned. "But we're learning a lot."

"I only asked because you're all starting to look a bit fitter," Charlie added. "It's only been a couple of weeks but you certainly look more like the Aurors I've seen in the field."

Harry looked pleased. "That's good to hear. Moody hasn't taken us much beyond what we'd have been doing in Seventh Year and in the early stages of training, magically speaking. He wants to be sure we've got the basics down perfectly before he moves us on to the _really_ dangerous stuff."

Hermione was about to add something when the door opened again.

"Has this become the 'in' place to be tonight?" Harry asked Ginny quietly, causing her to snicker.

The latest person who had come to join the was Aberforth Dumbledore and he ambled into the room and greeted everyone amiably before greeting the phoenix and owl perched on neighbouring chairs. Once he was finished with that, he claimed a chair for himself and pulled it up near the window where Harry and Ginny were sitting and smiled at them.

"Ah, Albus would approve, I think," he said before becoming serious. "I have some interesting information for you."

Harry gestured for him to go on then hesitated. "Did you need to tell me privately?"

Abe shook his head. "No, no. This is good news. Now, as I'm sure you already know, we do get the odd disreputable sort in at the Hog's Head." He waved his hands around for a moment. "Hard to keep them out really. Can't deny a man the right to have a drink. Anyway…I had a couple of those disreputable types in earlier this evening. Knew them. Not Death Eaters but they hang on the periphery. Don't have the courage or stupidity or whatever you want to call it to actually commit to Voldemort but they do like being associated with him. They're certainly close enough to some of the main players to know a bit of the gossip."

Everyone on the room looked at Abe with interest. This was the first direct news of Voldemort's activities that they'd had.

"Now, they spent most of their time rabbiting on about how important they were but I don't think even they believed what they were saying on that score," Abe continued. "Then they got into a bit of gossip on what's been happening with Voldemort. Now, I have no idea about the veracity of this news but it's fairly low level information, not out of the realms of possibility that they might have been telling the truth."

"_Alright_, Abe!" Tonks said irritably. "You've told us this might be disinformation; now get on with whatever this possible disinformation is!"

Abe chuckled. "Ah, I see the full moon also makes a werewolf's girlfriend a bit tetchy."

There were snorts of laughter in the room as Tonks glared at Abe. The twitching of her lips somewhat spoiled that glare however.

The humour suddenly dropped off Abe's face and he became quite grim. "From what these two clowns were saying, it appears that Snape has become Voldemort's new favourite; his new right-hand man. No need to guess the reason why."

There were angry mutters from many in the room and Harry clenched his fists as he turned his glare on the darkness outside the room. He relaxed only when Ginny pull his hands out of their fists and entwined her fingers with his.

"What else?" he said flatly.

"Ah, well, this might just be good news," Abe continued. "They also spent some time discussing Voldemort's distraction and the reasons for it. Apparently there have been very few meetings called lately and they were rather surprised. They expected that Voldemort would step things up once word of Albus' death reached him but instead he seems distracted. He has made no move to reclaim those of his supporters still in Azkaban nor has he ordered any large scale attacks."

"Did they know why?" Harry asked, starting to get interested.

Abe nodded. "From what they said, I gathered that Nagini is very ill."

There was silence for a moment then Harry leaned forward, looking intent. "How ill is _very_ ill?"

"They weren't very specific, I'm afraid," Abe said. "But the snake is definitely ill."

Everyone considered this for a moment.

"Do you think there's any way we could make that worse?" Ron asked quietly.

There was more silence as those in the room thought about that suggestion with varying degrees of interest and scepticism.

"I like the idea," Harry said slowly. "But the problem is we don't know where Voldemort's holed up at the moment."

Ron grunted. "Didn't think of that. What about luring him out?" Ron grimaced then answered his own question. "Argh, no. He wouldn't bring the snake with him if it is sick."

"Does he have anyone treating Nagini?" Harry asked.

Abe nodded. "Reading between the lines of what those two were saying, Snape's in charge of that."

Harry grimaced. "Well, I guess we can forget about slipping bad or fake ingredients or potions or whatever to the healer in charge. Snape'd see through that."

"He's probably making them himself," Hermione added to general agreement.

"What about distracting Voldemort even more?" Charlie suggested.

"What did you have in mind?" Harry asked.

"I know you don't like your fame and the whole Boy-Who-Lived, Chosen One thing but what about making some kind of public statement?" Charlie suggested. "You're birthday is in two days and it's the big one. You come of age; you come into your inheritance. Bill did some research into this. He just hasn't had a chance to tell you yet. But you have a pretty substantial inheritance coming. I'm not just talking about money but other more important things."

"Like what?" Harry asked warily.

"You'll be inheriting property for a start," Charlie explained. "There's Godric's Hollow, of course, but you also have two other properties. One's a manor house and the other is a cottage in Scotland. There's probably a lot of extraneous stuff like jewels, magical items, shares and whatnot but Bill looked into it and you also have a hereditary seat in the Wizengamot. The Potter line is an old one and most of the old families have something like that. Apparently it's been nearly six generations since anyone in your family actually _used_ that seat but it's there."

Harry gaped. "Really?" he said dubiously. "How come I haven't been told about any of this?"

Charlie leaned back against the table. "Probably a combination of nobody really knowing what you were likely to inherit and there not being much point in telling you. You couldn't claim any of this until you reached seventeen no matter what the circumstances were. That's law and nobody, not even the Malfoys, can get around it."

"So you think I should take up my seat?" Harry asked, getting things back to the main subject.

Charlie thought for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe not yet. You've got enough on your plate as it is without adding Wizengamot sessions to it. But maybe you should make some kind of public statement. The press will be after you anyway and this way you can use it for your own ends. Make some grand statements about how now that you're of age you think the time is right to start thinking about avenging your parents' deaths, taking care of the one who betrayed your family, who sent the wrongfully accused Sirius to Azkaban, killed Dumbledore and so on and so forth. Stand tall and proud and say you'll never be cowed by someone like Voldemort."

"What will all of _that_ achieve?" Ron asked.

"It'll likely infuriate Voldemort," Abe said thoughtfully. "He'll want to take some kind of action but he'll be hampered by his sick snake. I doubt he'll really want to lose that Horcrux. Then if he does take some action, there's a good chance it won't be very well thought out. We might even be able to capture a few more Death Eaters, thin out his forces some more."

Harry sat in thought for a while then nodded. "Okay, it seems like a good idea but I think I might talk it over with Moody and Remus first. Maybe Mr Weasley as well. I don't mind agitating Voldemort but I don't want people put in too much danger."

"That's going to happen no matter what you do," Hermione said suddenly. "You can't avoid that, Harry. You were always going to be an obvious key figure in this battle. I think anyone who's stuck with you for this long knows that and won't be put off by anything you choose to do as long as it's well thought out."

Harry drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I…You're right. I know you are." He straightened his shoulders. "I guess it's time to start getting serious then."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Harry woke up on the morning of his birthday and wandered downstairs to find two things waiting for him in the kitchen with Dobby who was making breakfast. One of those was a very official looking owl who seemed rather impatient. The other was Moody who was watching the owl and Dobby with an amused expression. The ex-Auror looked up as he entered and nodded once.

"Morning, Potter," he said gruffly. "Happy birthday."

"Er, thanks," Harry said as he sat down at the table. Dobby hurried over and placed a goblet of pumpkin juice in front of him and announced breakfast would be ready soon. He smiled at the little house elf then looked back over at Moody.

"Came to tell you that the three of you have the day off," Moody said. "I'm sure that there are some plans in the works and that owl probably has something for you."

Harry looked over at the owl and saw that the letter attached to its leg was indeed addressed to him. He quickly untied it and thanked the owl. The bird hooted regally at him then spread its wings and flew out of the kitchen. Harry turned the letter over and saw the Gringotts insignia on the back.

Moody saw it too. "You going to make that speech today?"

Harry had spoken to Moody, Remus and Mr Weasley about Charlie's idea. All three had agreed it was a feasible plan but advised him to be careful about what he said.

"Yeah, probably," Harry said absently as he opened the envelope. "Bill said I'd probably have to go in to Gringotts to sign some things so I'll already be in Diagon Alley."

Moody grunted and stood. "Well, I might head in myself and scout the area. Get those twins to keep an eye on things as well."

"Okay, thanks," Harry said as he opened the letter.

Moody waved in reply as he left the kitchen and Harry started reading.

_Dear Mr Harry Potter,_

_May I first extend Gringotts' congratulations on your birthday and your coming of age. It is a great milestone in the life of a wizard._

_It has come to my attention that Gringotts holds in trust a substantial inheritance in your name that is to be handed over to you on your seventeenth birthday. If you would be so kind as to attend the Diagon Alley branch of Gringotts at your earliest convenience, we may expedite the hand over of this inheritance. Please ask for me by name._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Takbar Goldgrant_

Harry placed the letter down on the table and stared at it, unsure of how he was feeling.

"Harry Potter sir?" Dobby asked tentatively, full plate in hand.

Harry blinked. "Yes, Dobby?"

"Is everything alright?" the house elf asked as he placed the plate in front of Harry.

"Yes, everything's fine," Harry said with a small smile. "Thanks for breakfast, Dobby."

Dobby beamed and headed back to the stove.

"Hey, Harry," Ron said sleepily as he shuffled into the kitchen. "You're up early."

"So are you," Harry replied with amusement.

"Couldn't sleep," Ron yawned. "And I'd have to get up soon anyway."

"Moody's given us the day off as my birthday present," Harry said.

"Really? You mean I could have stayed in bed?" Ron groused then he saw the letter lying in front of Harry and woke up a bit more. "Is that what I think it is?"

"If you think it's a letter from Gringotts about my inheritance then yes," Harry replied.

"When do you have to go in?" Hermione asked from the door. "And I see we're all up early."

Harry laughed. "Anticipation maybe? And I can go in at any time."

"Well, let's have breakfast and get it done," Hermione said pragmatically as she sat down at the table.

Dobby rushed over and served breakfast to her and Ron and they thanked the house elf.

"Are you going to make that speech today?" Ron asked as he took a mouthful of eggs.

"Don't know," Harry replied. "Remus and Moody suggested that I let it happen naturally. You know, if the reporters mob me then make the speech but if they don't even notice I'm there, leave it until another time. Moody said if we try and force the issue, Voldemort will probably pick up on it and get suspicious. He said to remember Voldemort's evil, not stupid."

"And he's got Snape standing beside him now," Ron said with disgust. "And say what you like about him…"

"And we usually do," Harry chipped in with a grin that caused Hermione to roll her eyes.

"He is pretty intelligent," Ron finished with a matching grin. "And he probably knows us well enough to figure out when we're faking it."

They were interrupted by the sudden flaring of the fireplace and the arrival of Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin.

"Oh, good morning," Minerva said with slight surprise. "You three are up early."

Harry grinned. "I know. None of us could sleep. So what brings you here, Prof…Minerva?"

The two adults took seats at the table and waved off Dobby's offer of breakfast though they did accept some tea.

"The Board of Governors met last night and some decisions were made," Minerva said soberly. "I thought it best that you know what will be happening next year now that you lead the Order."

"So what's happening?" Harry prompted.

"It has been decided that the school will remain open next year for any students who wish to attend," Minerva announced. "I have been confirmed as Headmistress and Professor Flitwick will serve as Deputy Headmaster. Filius has been strengthening the wards since the end of the school year. They will now not permit anyone through who wears the Dark Mark." She paused and swallowed hard. "There is no longer any need to allow _that_." She took a deep breath and allowed a small smile to settle on her face. "As I am sure you are aware we need some new teachers for the next school year. Professor Slughorn has agreed, albeit reluctantly, to remain as the Potions teacher and will take over as Head of Slytherin."

"That's good," Harry said neutrally. After the revelations of last year, he wasn't entirely sure what to think of Slughorn "He's a good teacher."

"Yes, so many students have said," Minerva responded dryly. "Alastor Moody has agreed to take the Defence Against the Dark Arts position of which I am sure you will approve since it will enable you three to continue your training."

"That is good news," Harry said with a smile. "He was here this morning. I wonder why he didn't tell me."

"He was told to keep the news to himself," Minerva replied sternly. "As Headmistrees, I will no longer be able to teach and I must give up my responsibility as Head of Gryffindor House but I am sure you will like my replacement."

Harry looked between Minerva and Remus, hope growing within him even though he was genuinely disappointed that Minerva had to give up her dual roles. He and Remus had spoken when the werewolf had returned after the full moon and he felt they had the beginning of a much closer relationship.

Minerva smiled at him, reading the hopeful expression on his face. "The Board have accepted my recommendation of Remus to fill the positions of Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House with myself to be available on the nights of the full moon. Remus achieved the second highest mark in Transfiguration in his final year so I feel he is more than capable of teaching the subject."

Harry grinned as Ron whooped and Hermione congratulated Remus.

"So who beat you for top marks," Harry asked cheekily.

Remus paused for a moment. "Sirius," he said with a small smile. "And James came in third."

Harry's smile was tinged with sadness but it did not falter. "I suppose that makes sense." He paused. "Remus, I'm going in to Gringotts with Ron and Hermione today. They sent me a letter about my inheritance. I was hoping you'd come as well."

Remus looked a little surprised but quickly nodded. "I love to."

"Harry, I needed to ask you something regarding the next school year," Minerva said, dragging the conversation back on track. "Will the three of you be returning? I would like you to do so not just for your own safety and education, for I am more than willing to make allowances for the three of you to continue your advanced training with Alastor, but also for the good of the school. It will set a good example if you are willing to return."

Harry paused then nodded slowly. "I think we should too. The school should remain open, as a refuge if nothing else. The only problem I can see is if Ron, Hermione and I have to go and…well, deal with something."

"Then you shall go," Minerva said reluctantly. "I had not intended to tell you this just yet but I suppose we might consider it your birthday present. It was the unanimous decision of all of the teachers that you be made this year's Head Boy."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Me? Why me?"

Minerva chuckled. "Surely that would be obvious, Harry. There are many reasons why the Head Boy is chosen. It may be simply because he is the most academically brilliant in the year or he may be a natural leader or it may be for many other reasons. In your case it is because you are the Boy-Who-Lived. The only person to have survived a personal attack by Voldemort. You are a strong and capable leader as you have already proven with your Defence Association. You do not show fear of Voldemort and have already chosen to take the lead in these troubled times. While there are more academically brilliant students than yourself, you are the ideal choice for Head Boy from your year level."

"Oh," Harry said a little weakly. He hadn't quite expected such an honest response.

"Hermione will of course be Head Girl," Minerva continued briskly. "As Head Boy and Girl and with Ron as a prefect, you will be permitted to leave whenever you feel it necessary. I just ask that you do not abuse that privilege."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said seriously.

"Good," Minerva said firmly. "Now, I'm afraid I must return to Hogwarts. There is much to be done to prepare the school for the new year."

With that the new Headmistress of Hogwarts rose and flooed out of Grimmauld Place. Harry watched her go then looked over at his friends.

"Okay, let's get ready."

The trio stood and hurried upstairs to change into more appropriate clothes then they grabbed bags and money and headed downstairs again. When they walked back into the kitchen, Remus stood and the four of them flooed through to the Leaky Cauldron. The pub was empty and Tom looked up hopefully as they exited from the fireplace. His face fell when they merely waved a hello and hurried out the back entrance.

"Poor Tom," Remus commented quietly as he tapped the wall to open it. "He has to remain open as the main entrance to Diagon Alley is here but it's not easy for him these days. Not many people want to linger over a pint or a meal."

"Understandable, I suppose," Hermione said as they hurried through the Diagon Alley towards Gringotts.

The place was nearly empty and those people that were there were scurrying around, clearly intent on finishing their tasks as quickly as possible. Some of them looked over at Harry and his friends and their eyes widened as they realised who it was they were seeing. When they got to Gringotts, Harry headed straight for the first waiting goblin and pulled the letter he had received that morning out of his pocket.

"Excuse me," he said politely. "I need to speak to Takbar Goldgrant."

The goblin took the letter without a word and glanced at it before handing it back and looking at Ron, Hermione and Remus. "Wait here," he said abruptly as he jumped down and scurried off.

A few minutes later he returned with another goblin. This new goblin came around to the front of the counter and held out a hand.

"Ah, Mr Potter, welcome. I'm Takbar Goldgrant," he said in a gravelly voice as they shook hands. "I had hoped you would come in today. Happy birthday."

"Thank you," Harry replied.

"Please call me Takbar, Mr Potter," Takbar said as he glanced at the others. "Do you wish for these good people to accompany us?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Harry replied.

"No, no, not at all," Takbar replied amiably as he gestured for everyone to follow him. "You may share the news of your inheritance with whomever you choose."

Takbar led them through a side door and into a luxuriously appointed office. He gestured for Harry and his friends to take seats around a large mahogany table then walked over to the large desk and picked up a folder. He walked back to the table and stood beside Harry, placing the folder in front of him and opening it.

"Your inheritance consists of three properties," Takbar began to explain, turning over pieces of parchment. "There is a piece of land at Godric's Hollow. There was a house there…" Takbar stopped suddenly then continued smoothly. "As I'm sure you are aware. There is a manor house located in Essex and a cottage in the town of Hogsmeade. The manor house has been unused since the deaths of your grandparents though there is a small house elf staff still there. The cottage in Hogsmeade is currently rented and the lease comes up at the end of February next year."

Takbar flipped through a few more pieces of parchment before continuing. "Now, onto to the Potter family vault. The vault currently contains a substantial sum of money, somewhere in the vicinity of five million galleons, as well as a large amount of property, jewels, magical artefacts and portraits." He looked down at the topmost sheet of parchment. "There are also five crates that contain assorted effects from the house at Godric's Hollow."

"Wow," Harry said, a little shocked at the extent of his inheritance.

"I didn't know the Potters had that much money," Remus said with a small frown.

"Interest," Takbar replied succinctly. "Sixteen years of interest does any sum of money a world of good."

"Ah, that would explain it," Remus said with a nod. He looked over at Harry and chuckled at his shocked expression. "I thought you knew the Potters were a wealthy family?"

"Well, sort of," Harry said uncomfortably. "I just didn't think it was _that_ much."

"It is a substantial amount," Takbar said judiciously. "Though nowhere near the fortunes possessed by some of the more notable families. The Patils for example are among one of the wealthiest families in Britain though much of their fortune is based in India."

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked surprised at that. Takbar fussed with the parchments then removed three separate pages.

"Now, Mr Potter, if you could just sign here, here and here, we can get this done," Takbar said, offering a quill and ink to Harry.

Harry quickly signed where indicated and Takbar smiled with satisfaction. He tapped the three pieces of parchment and they disappeared. He picked up the folder and handed it to Harry with a bow.

"Would you like to visit your vault, Mr Potter?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, please."

Takbar bowed again and led the four of them out of the office. One rather fast and ferocious ride in the carts later they were standing in front of vault number 143. The vault also bore the name Potter engraved in the stone above the door. Takbar waved Harry over to a small bronze plate in the middle of the door.

"If you could just place your hand here, Mr Potter."

Harry obeyed and felt an odd, rather warm wave of magic flow through him then a low chime sounded and the door to the vault began to swing open. Harry walked in with his friends and Takbar behind him and he gasped at the sight before him.

The vault was enormous and seemed to be sectioned off into various areas. One area held huge piles of galleons, sickles and knuts. One held portrait after portrait while a third held various types of furniture. There was a section devoted to weaponry, one that looked like a small library and another where various magical items were held in glass cases or behind shimmering shields. Right at the front of the vault lay the five crates from Godric's Hollow. Harry headed straight for these crates and crouched down beside them. They had all been sealed and he ran a hand lightly over the one closest to him. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes then he felt someone crouch down beside him.

"Let's shrink them and take them home," Remus said quietly. "I think you'll want to go through them in private."

Harry nodded and let the werewolf shrink the crates. He then picked them up and tucked them into a pocket before looked around the vault. He smiled when he saw Hermione looking through the bookshelves with avid interest and Ron examining the magical items.

"Let's go," he called out to them and they jumped momentarily before heading back.

"There are some very rare books in here," Hermione said with excitement.

Harry laughed. "We can come back later, Hermione, and you can take whichever ones you like."

Hermione beamed at him and Ron, Remus and Harry laughed. They headed back over to Takbar who took them all back to the surface. Once there Harry thanked the goblin for his help, much to Takbar's obvious pleasure, and they headed out of the bank, planning on going to the Leaky Cauldron and from there back home.

As they were walking along Diagon Alley, Harry heard someone call his name. He turned to see Neville Longbottom running towards him, a tall, stern-looking woman sailing along regally in his wake. She wore green robes, a fox-fur scarf and a vulture-topped hat and held a large red handbag clutched in one hand. Harry and his friends stopped walking and waited for Neville and his Gran to catch up to them. Once they did, Mrs Longbottom started talking before Neville had a chance to open his mouth.

"Mr Potter, my name is Augusta Longbottom," she said firmly. "I am sure Neville has told you about me."

"Er, yes ma'am," Harry said a bit nervously. Mrs Longbottom was a very formidable woman and having her fierce regard pinned on you was more than a little intimidating. Suddenly Harry felt a wave of sympathy for Neville.

"I understand today is your birthday, Mr Potter," she said, her face softening slightly. "Happy birthday. Congratulations on reaching your majority."

"Um, thank you, ma'am," Harry said before quickly turning to Neville. "Happy birthday for yesterday, Neville."

Neville blushed as Ron, Hermione and Neville added their congratulation and smiled. "Thanks, Harry. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Professor Lupin."

Mrs Longbottom looked pleased that Harry had remembered Neville's birthday then she fixed him with a stern look. "I am given from various sources to understand that you intend to fight You-Know-Who. That Albus himself set this task upon you. Is this true?"

"Well, yes, in a manner of speaking," Harry replied, aware that they were gathering a small but interested crowd. "I have other reasons than just the Headmaster's wishes though. He killed my parents and one of his followers killed my godfather. The Headmaster just asked me to do something that I would have wanted to do anyway."

"I see," Mrs Longbottom said with an arched eyebrow. "I have also just heard that the school _will_ be reopening for the next school year. Will you be returning?"

"Of course! We all will," Harry said staunchly, gesturing to his friends. "I'm not going to let Voldemort stop me from doing what I want to do."

He said this last loudly, ignoring the gasps from people around them at his use of the Dark Lord's name.

"You use his name," Mrs Longbottom said in an odd tone.

"Yes," Harry replied firmly. "The Headmaster once said fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. Voldemort is just the name a half-blood wizard came up with because he didn't like being called _Tom_."

There were even more audible gasps from those around them and for a moment Harry wondered if he'd perhaps gone a little too far. Then he heard a rusty-sounding chuckle and realised it came from Mrs Longbottom.

"You've got courage, lad, I'll give you that," she said with an approving pat on his shoulder. "You reminded me very much of your parents just then. They would be very proud of you."

"Thank you, Mrs Longbottom," Harry said respectfully.

"Glad to see you know something of the truth of Voldemort," she said then she chuckled again at Harry's expression. "Oh yes, I'm old enough to know a bit about _him_." She nodded approvingly. "Good to see there's someone competent taking up Albus' reigns in this fight. Neville speaks very highly of you and I know Neville's word can be trusted."

Neville stood a little straighter at this and shot a surprised look at his grandmother.

"Neville was a great help at the Ministry," Harry said with a quick grin to his fellow Gryffindor. "And during the fight with the Death Eaters at Hogwarts. I gather he'll be coming back to school for Seventh Year?"

"Of course," Mrs Longbottom said scornfully. "You are right after all. Can't let that wretched man stop us from living our lives."

"That's good to hear," Harry replied.

Mrs Longbottom turned her imposing gaze from Harry to Remus. "Professor Lupin, I understand you will be returning to Hogwarts this year to teach."

"Yes, Minerva has asked me to teach Transfiguration this year since she will be taking up the position of Headmistress," Remus replied respectfully. "I will also be the Head of Gryffindor House."

"Really?" Neville said with a smile. "That's good to hear, Professor. Who will be teaching Defence then?"

Remus smiled at Neville, obviously remembering the nervous boy from his classes. "Alastor Moody has agreed to teach Defence this year, Neville."

Neville gulped and looked nervous.

"At least it's the _real_ Alastor Moody this time," Harry said dryly. "Though I would have liked you to teach us Defence, Remus."

Harry's obvious affection for Remus caused more murmurs to run through the crowd and Mrs Longbottom gave him an approving smile.

"I think Alastor is better suited to teach the kind of things you need to know now," Remus replied.

"I still liked you better as a teacher, Professor," Neville said with a shifty glance at his grandmother that said more than words that she did not know about the Boggart incident.

Harry, Ron and Hermione suddenly struggled to keep straight faces and they saw Neville was having the same problem. Finally Ron let out a snicker and the four students started laughing.

Mrs Longbottom eyed them all sternly. "What is Merlin's name is that all about?" she demanded of Remus.

Remus just smiled benignly. "I tried to make my classes fun. Students learn better when they are enjoying themselves."

Mrs Longbottom eyed them all suspiciously for a moment then she allowed herself a small smile. "From what I have heard you more than succeeded, Professor. Well, Neville and I must be off, we still have some tasks to complete. Good day, Mr Potter, Professor Lupin, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger."

Harry and his friends said goodbye to Neville and his Gran then continued on towards the Leaky Cauldron, scattering the suddenly studiously disinterested crowd as they walked. They didn't speak as they flooed back to Grimmauld Place. The moment they stepped out of the fireplace into the empty kitchen, Hermione turned to Harry.

"Well, that was lucky," she said with a smile. "You didn't get to say half the things you planned but I think you got the most important things across."

"It definitely went well," Remus added. "And I'm sure that Mrs Longbottom was aware of everything she was saying. She knew the crowd was there and listening. She was very clearly taking a stand on the issue."

"Yeah, I noticed," Harry said dryly. "I hope she knows what she's doing."

Ron snorted. "Did you see that woman, Harry? Of course she knows what she's doing. If it came to a fight between Mrs Longbottom and Voldemort, I think I'd put my money on Mrs Longbottom."

Harry, Ron and Remus burst out laughing at Ron's comment.

"You might have a point there, Ron," Harry said with a grin then he patted his pockets and sobered. "Look, I'm going to go downstairs and start looking through these."

Hermione and Ron sobered as well. "We'll go to the library and keep searching for anything on Horcruxes," Hermione said quickly. "I think you should do this by yourself."

"Actually I was kind of hoping Remus would join me," Harry said, looking hopefully at the older man.

Remus nodded. "Of course, Harry."

Ron and Hermione smiled then slipped out of the kitchen. Harry drew in a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come, then he and Remus headed for the stairs to the cellar.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Once down in the training room, Harry pulled the crates out of his pocket and Remus enlarged them. The two of them stared at them for a moment then Harry walked over to the first of the crates. Remus joined him and the werewolf used his wand open the crate. The two men then kneeled down beside the crates and Harry reached into it and removed the slightly singed blanket that was on top.

Underneath the blanket was a collection of odd and ends that had been thrown higgledy piggledy into the crate. Harry slowly pulled them out one by one. The crate contained mostly household goods, mugs, plates, cutlery and other assorted bits and pieces. At the bottom of the crate there were a collection of baby paraphernalia. Harry picked up a small bowl with snitches swirling on it and eyed it for a long moment.

"James bought that," Remus said softly from over his shoulder. "It was part of a whole Quidditch-themed set of bowls, cups, plates and so on."

Harry gave a small huff of sad laughter and started putting things back into the crate. "This one must have come from the kitchen," he said in an odd tone of voice. He wasn't sure how he was meant to be feeling right now, going through things that his parents had once owned, things he'd once used.

Remus nodded and helped him repack the crate. They turned to the next one and Remus again opened it. There was another blanket placed on top and Harry removed that. Right underneath was a collection of photos. They were still in frames and in some cases the remnants of frames. Harry picked the topmost one up and saw that it was a photograph of his parents from their wedding. They both looked so young and were waving happily and occasionally turning to each other and kissing. Harry carefully removed the photo from its shattered frame and placed it beside him.

He picked up the next photo and saw his parents again. This time they were in a park somewhere and were dancing with each other, endlessly whirling around in the photo.

"I took that one," Remus said in a slightly choked voice. "We were out celebrating. They'd just found out Lily was pregnant."

Harry swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat but did not say anything. He removed this photo from the broken frame and placed it with the other. One by one they went through the photos. There were many of them in the crate; most were undamaged, the frames and glass having taken the brunt of the impact. Remus knew when and where most of them had been taken. At the bottom of the crate was a collection of photos in a ragged box. The box was slightly squashed but it seemed to have been somehow protected from the general destruction of the house. Harry pulled the box out and opened it. He pulled the photos out and found that the box contained an enormous collection of baby photos. There were photos from when he was just a few days old to ones taken probably only a few weeks before that night in October.

Harry flipped through the photos and smiled sadly. There were pictures of him on his own, with his parents both together and individually, Sirius, Remus, Peter and even a few of him with Minerva McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. At the bottom of the pile was an envelope and Harry opened it curiously. He pulled the photos inside out and started laughing with delight. Remus looked over his shoulder and gave an amused groan before joining in the laughter. The photos showed Harry with Padfoot; the big, black dog licking the baby Harry enthusiastically as Harry screamed with laughter, Harry sitting on the dog's back, Harry asleep curled up against the dog's belly. There were photos of Harry with Wormtail; the little rat sitting on a laughing Harry's shoulders and head. And finally there were photos of Harry with Prongs, sitting on the stag's back and looked utterly delighted.

"I'd forgotten about those," Remus said with a fond smile. "Lily and I took them. I'm not sure who you loved more, Sirius or Padfoot."

"I wished I remembered it," Harry said softly.

"You were too young, I suppose," Remus replied. "You were always amazed and delighted when Sirius or Peter or James became their animagus form. You thought it was the best thing you'd ever seen."

Harry smiled and very carefully picked up all of the photos. He stood and carried them over to the table at the side of the room and placed them there. He then returned to find Remus had opened the third crate and removed the blanket on top. This crate was full of clothing and Harry carefully pulled out a few items.

"This looks like James and Lily's clothes," Remus said after a minute. "They must have gone through the rooms and just taken anything still intact."

Harry nodded and let the clothes fall back into the crate. They turned to the fourth crate and when Remus opened it and removed the blanket, they found several slightly battered stuffed animals sitting on top. Harry pulled out the animals and smiled. There was a stuffed black dog, a stuffed grey wolf, a stuffed deer and small stuffed rat.

"Gee, I wonder why I had these," he said dryly.

Remus chuckled. "You have no idea how hard it was to find the deer and the rat. Those four were Sirius and my present to you when you were born."

Harry gave a small laugh and placed the stuffed animals to one side. The rest of the crate was full of baby clothes and paraphernalia as well as other small toys. Once they'd emptied the crate, Harry kept the three of the four stuffed animals aside then put everything else back with Remus' help. He then took the stuffed dog, deer and wolf over and put them with the photos. When he came back, Remus was standing next to the last open crate.

"How are you doing?" he asked with concern.

"Okay, I think," Harry replied, his voice just a tiny bit shaky. "It's weird going through all of this."

Remus nodded and they turned to the last crate. Harry pulled the blanket off the top and they saw that there seemed to be a real mishmash of items in this crate. Sitting on top were a number of dented and tarnished Quidditch trophies. Remus and Harry pulled them out and looked them over.

"Dad was a Chaser?" Harry asked as he read the words on the trophy in his hand.

Remus nodded. "Yeah, a good one too. Sirius played Beater up until Sixth Year as well."

"Why did he stop?" Harry asked as he pulled another trophy out.

Remus hesitated for a moment. "He was banned from playing after the…incident at the Shrieking Shack."

"Oh," Harry replied.

Underneath the trophies were a number of medals, small statues and knick-knacks.

"These look like some of your grandparents' things," Remus said. "I remember seeing a lot of this stuff at their house during various summer holidays."

Harry nodded as they kept emptying the crate. "If there _was_ a proto-Horcrux at Godric's Hollow, it's probably in here then," he observed.

"Probably," Remus agreed. "They would have thought it belonged with these things. Do you have any idea what it might be?"

Harry shook his head. "Not really. I've speculated it might be something of Godric Gryffindor's but that's only a guess."

"Why?"

Harry shrugged as he lifted out a small statue of a lion. "The Headmaster thought that the only relic of Gryffindor's to survive this long was the sword but when I compared the lists I got from Bill and Minerva, there were three artefacts that were missing and unaccounted for. Everything else had a date and small description of how it was lost or destroyed. These three were just listed as missing."

"What were they?" Remus asked as he admired a small carving of a lily.

"There was a shield which I assume is a match for the sword."

"That'd be a bit big, I think," Remus said.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that's the least likely option. There was a bracelet. A solid gold thing about an inch wide with lions carved on it. And the third was a gold goblet also with lions carved on it. One of those old style types with a hinged lid on it."

"Which is it more likely to be?" Remus asked.

Harry paused. "I'm not sure. I guess the goblet seems the most obvious choice."

"Uhuh," Remus said in a very odd tone of voice. "Maybe something like this?"

Harry looked over to see Remus holding a dented gold goblet with the lid hanging off the damaged hinge. The goblet was beautiful despite its damaged state, the lions carved in rampant form with vines winding around them. Remus offered the goblet to Harry and he took it, yelping as he felt the magic that seemed to run through the object.

"Wow," he said with fascination. "It's got a lot of magic in it."

Remus nodded. "Yes, that's what drew me to it. So I guess we can say that's the proto-Horcrux."

"Yeah," Harry said eying the goblet pensively. "I can see why they threw it in with the rest of Mum and Dad's stuff. It's clearly magical but there's nothing…Dark that I can sense in it."

Remus gestured to Harry for the goblet then pulled his wand out and tried a few spells. "No, there's nothing appreciably Dark about it. Maybe it doesn't become Dark until it's…used."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry replied slowly. "Bill said that the containment spells that could be used were probably ones he knew. He said there were only a limited number of kinds and that none of them were Dark magic."

"What did the Headmaster know about them?" Remus asked as he placed the goblet to one side and helped Harry pack everything back into the crate.

"Hermione's still deciphering his notes," Harry replied. "His writing's a bit cramped and hurried and hard to read. From what Hermione's worked out so far, he had the same thoughts we had; that the Horcrux had to be prepared before being used."

"Did he know how a Horcrux is actually created?" Remus asked and he knocked the lid of the crate back on.

"We haven't got that far in," Harry said. He looked down at the crates for a moment then said, "Dobby!"

The little house elf appeared looking slightly flustered. "Yes, Harry Potter sir?"

"Is everything alright, Dobby?" Harry asked.

Dobby's eyes widened for a moment then he nodded vigorously. "Oh yes, Harry Potter sir. Everything is just fine."

"Okay," Harry said slowly, suddenly realising that there was undoubtedly _something_ being organised for his birthday and the little house elf had probably been in the middle of something. "Um, could you please take these crates up and store them somewhere safe?"

"Certainly!" Dobby said then he and the crates disappeared with a pop.

"I think they're up to something upstairs," Harry said with a small smile.

Remus chuckled and picked up the goblet. "I'd be disappointed if they weren't. So where to now?"

"The library," Harry said decisively as he gathered up the photos and the stuffed animals. "I'll join you after I put these into my room." He paused and grinned. "Maybe we should make a lot of noise as we walk up the stairs. I'd hate to spoil their fun."

Remus laughed and the two of them walked through the potions laboratory and thumped loudly up the stairs. They thumped down the corridor and studiously ignored the shuffling and admonitions coming from the living room. Harry left Remus at the door to the library and headed upstairs. He placed the photos on his desk and lined the stuffed dog, deer and wolf up on one of the bedside tables. He smiled down at them for a moment then gave a snort of laughter before turning and heading back down to the library. He paused at the top of the stairs then went back into his room and grabbed the pair of socks holding the locket Horcrux. He was careful to thump his way down the stairs and along the corridor before standing in the doorway.

"I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day in the library. I sure hope someone remembers to send some lunch in for Remus and I," he announced loudly to the world in general then he walked into the library and closed the door.

"Well, I'm sure they'll all be glad to hear that and I'm sure they'll remember to feed us," Remus laughed from where he was sitting and reading over Hermione's notes, the goblet sitting in front of him.

Harry walked over and pulled the locket out of the socks and placed it next to goblet. Then he picked up the goblet, flinching a little from the slight shock. He put the goblet down and picked up the locket, tossing it up and down in his hand for a moment before putting it back on the table.

"I wonder why the goblet has that…magical charge to it and the locket doesn't?" he wondered out loud.

"Maybe because the locket is a Horcrux but the goblet isn't," Remus suggested as he twitched the parchment containing the Headmaster's notes towards him.

Harry stared at the goblet and the locket broodingly. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Remus looked up at him with concern in his eyes. "Maybe we should leave this for another day," he offered tentatively.

"Why?" Harry said in surprise.

"Because I think I'm going to get in trouble if you end up brooding your way into a bad mood on your birthday," Remus replied with a hit of humour.

Harry gave a small burst of a laugh then his eyes darkened. "It's just…" He picked up the locket. "The Headmaster died because of this damn thing and it wasn't even the real one."

Remus leaned back in his chair. "No, he didn't. Harry, the Headmaster died because Snape killed him. What _I_ don't understand is why he didn't realise it was a fake."

Harry stiffened. "Didn't I tell you?"

Remus cocked his head to one side. "No, you didn't and none of us really wanted to press you for too many details about that night."

Harry sat down with a thump in a chair opposite Remus. "I told you about the cave and the lake, didn't I?"

Remus nodded. "Yes and the Inferi and the pedestal with the basin and potion."

Harry swallowed as he turned the locket over and over in his hand. "The locket was in the bowl and through the potion it _looked_ like the real thing. The Headmaster couldn't touch the potion so he couldn't just reach in and take the locket. He determined that the potion had to be drunk."

"That was dangerous," Remus observed, more to prompt Harry than anything else.

Harry nodded, his eyes distant and his hands still turning the locket over and over. "I offered to drink it but he wouldn't let me and I'd promised to obey his orders. He made me promise that if he was incapable of drinking the potion I was to _make_ him drink, even if that meant pouring it down his throat." Harry choked a bit and Remus waited patiently until he continued. "At first it seemed alright then he became…frightened. The potion did something that made him frightened beyond belief. But I kept making him drink it. I kept pouring that potion down his throat. I'd _promised_. So I did it. Even when he asked me to kill him, I still made him drink."

Remus stood silently and came round to Harry's side of the table. He plucked the locket out of the young man's hands and took them in own, crouching down beside the chair Harry was sitting on.

"When…when it was over, he passed out," Harry said, his voice soft and filled with remember horror. "I thought he was dead for a moment. I used Rennervate. He woke and asked for water. I tried filling the goblet but it wouldn't fill, it just kept emptying. I think Voldemort planned it that way. I had to fill it from the lake. I knew I shouldn't, Dumbledore had said it would wake the Inferi but I had to help him. The Inferi woke and I forgot that fire would affect them. I can't even remember what spells I used. Just when I thought I was dead, the Headmaster used a spell that raised fire. He looked terrible but he was standing. He grabbed the locket and we got out of there. He was so tired and seemed so weak. And I was so afraid." He paused and said softly, "Neither of us thought to look at the locket. Then when we got back to Hogsmeade, we saw the Dark Mark and…well, you know the rest."

Remus nodded wordlessly then he stood and pulled Harry to him, wrapping him in a warm hug. Harry stiffened for a moment then his arms slipped around the older man and he relaxed into the warm body. He buried his face into Remus' robes and slowly, slowly, started to sob. He felt the older man rubbing his back soothingly and there were soft nonsense words being said and he let himself sob out his fear, his helplessness and his grief.

How long they stood like he didn't know but finally the tears slowed and stopped. He didn't move from the shelter of Remus' arms though, feeling safe for the first time in a long time. Finally Remus moved them over to the couch in the corner and they finally pulled apart in order to sit down. Remus then pulled him close again and Harry was happy to lean into the older man's comfort.

"You did a very brave thing," Remus said in a voice barely above a whisper. "And you did the right thing."

"How can you say that?" Harry asked in a dreary tone though he did not move. "The Headmaster died and it was a _fake_!"

"But neither of you knew that at the time," Remus insisted. "The Horcrux had to be found and destroyed and neither of you knew that it had been substituted. The only person who knew that was dead. And the Headmaster's death had nothing to do with the two of you getting that locket. That was _Snape's_ fault and do not lay the blame anywhere other than with that man." He paused. "Though I suppose you can give some of the blame to Draco Malfoy."

Harry was silent for a long time. "You're not going back to Greyback," he said flatly.

"Thank you," Remus said quietly. "I wasn't of much use anyway. The werewolves that are drawn to Greyback don't want to hear what I have to say."

There was silence again.

"I asked Fred and George to come up with some kind of werewolf repellent that children could easily use or wear," he said suddenly. "Greyback goes after children and I know he killed the little brother of a couple of girls at school. Have they spoken to you at all? I said you might be willing to help them though I told them if they hurt you they'd have to answer to me…and to Tonks."

"Yes, they mentioned that project to me," Remus replied, willing to maintain the quiet, almost pensive air that surrounded them. "I'll be happy to help and it was a good idea. They were very concerned about not hurting me. I'd wondered why."

Harry frowned, though Remus couldn't see it. He did hear it in the young man's voice though. "Why wouldn't they be concerned?" he said with quiet indignation. "They like you, you know that don't you?"

Remus gave a small huff of laughter. "I know that. It's just that they were excessively concerned. I just wondered what had put the wind up them. I thought perhaps it was Molly."

Harry snorted then he said with a faint hint of humour, "I should tell them who Mr Moony is."

"So that's where you got the Marauders Map from," Remus said with a laugh.

"Yeah. They gave it to me in Third Year," Harry replied, feeling his mood start to lift with the light conversation. "I didn't have permission to go into Hogsmeade and they felt I shouldn't miss that. So they gave me the Map and showed me how to use it."

"Even though you were under the impression at that time that there was a mass murderer after you?" Remus said with amused disbelief. "I was right to take it away from you."

Harry smiled and gave a small laugh. "Well, I didn't think Sirius was going to come after me in the middle of Hogsmeade." He gave another laugh. "You know, thinking back on that, I should have got suspicious that you seemed to know what the Map was. I guess I was just so thrown off balance by seeing Pettigrew's name on it then getting caught by Snape. And then getting half-yelled at by you."

"Well, I had hoped to distract you," Remus admitted. "I know that I gave a bit too much away at that point. I had Snape at me for days after that."

Harry snorted. "I'll bet you did," he said darkly then he paused. "Why _did_ you forget to take your potion that night?"

Remus was silent for a time. "After Snape brought it in, I went to check the Map. I actually had the damn goblet in my hand when I saw the three of you leave Hagrid's hut. Then I saw Peter's name and coming straight at you was Sirius. I don't remember what I did with the goblet. I think I just dropped it." He sighed. "You have no idea how many times I have wished I could go back and change that. All I needed to do was swallow the damn potion before I left. I still would have…transformed when we came out of the tunnel but I would have had my own mind." He sighed again. "You know I still don't know what I was more upset about; losing Peter or hurting Sirius. Other than putting you all at risk, of course."

Harry nodded and they fell silent again.

"Thank you for this," Harry said quietly after several minutes.

"That's okay," Remus replied. "I'm just glad I can help. I know you have to be strong out there, be the leader but you can always come to me if you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to lean on or just a sympathetic ear."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said with a smile. They'd had a long talk after Remus had returned from Hogwarts and he was glad that Tonks had pushed them into it. "Good thing Tonks told me what you wanted," he said, voicing that thought. "Otherwise we'd still be dancing around each other probably."

"Yes, she did the right thing," Remus replied, a fond note in his voice.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" Harry asked after a short silence. "Taking the lead in this way?"

"Of course," Remus said, sounding a little confused. "Who else could? I mean, yes, Moody, Arthur and perhaps Bill or Aberforth could have taken the leadership but I don't think they could hold everyone together they way you'll be able to. Like it or not, you are the Boy-Who-Lived. People will listen to you." He paused. "You're not having doubts, are you?"

Harry snorted. "I _always_ have doubts, Remus. I don't think I've ever been completely sure about anything. I just put on a good front because that's what everyone seems to expect of me."

"Well, _I_ don't," Remus said firmly. "You can let out your fears and doubts with me. I'm not sure I'll always have the answers but I will always help."

"Thanks, Remus," Harry said quietly. "That does help." He paused. "I guess the problem is that I've got a goal but no real plan."

"How do you mean?" Remus asked.

"I know what I have to do," Harry said firmly. "I have to find and destroy all of the Horcruxes if I'm going to destroy Voldemort but the problem is I don't know where the Horcruxes _are_." He gave a frustrated sigh. "I know _what_ they are; Nagini, Hufflepuff's cup, something of Ravenclaw's. But where are they?"

Remus thought about this for a while. "How did the Headmaster know where the locket was being held?"

"He suspected the cave that Tom Riddle took those other children from the orphanage into and did Merlin only knows what to them was the hiding place," Harry said thoughtfully. "He said he been trying to locate it for a while." He paused and frowned. "It keeps coming back to me. Professor Dumbledore showed me those memories for a reason. I know one reason but think there was another."

"What were the reason?" Remus asked curiously.

"Part of it was to give me an idea of what Voldemort was like when he was younger," Harry explained. "To get a feel for him and to show me that…I'm nothing like him. And that even though he's forced me into this role that I'm not helpless. I don't have to believe the prophecy, Remus. But because _Voldemort_ believes it, I have to act like I do as well. But I have to do it on _my_ terms. If I don't, I'm going to die. Professor Dumbledore helped me work it out. It's the difference between being dragged into an arena to face a battle to the death and walking in under your own steam with your head held high. It's still a battle to the death but you're…"

"No longer a victim," Remus said with understanding. "You're making your own choices and because you're making your own choices, you're better prepared. You're not caught lamenting and off guard."

"Exactly!" Harry said firmly.

"So what was the other reason?" Remus asked.

"I _think_ it was also to give me hints about where the Horcruxes might be," Harry replied slowly. "Do you think Professor Dumbledore knew he was going to die?"

"I don't think he _knew_ it," Remus said. "But I think he was aware it was a possibility. You and the Headmaster are right on top of the list of people Voldemort wants dead. Maybe he was just taking care of as many possibilities as he could."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Harry said thoughtfully. "Anyway, I think maybe the hiding places might be somewhere in those memories I saw."

"Where are you going to start?" Remus asked.

"I…think I'm going to start at the beginning," Harry replied. "I don't know what I'll find or even if there _is_ anything to find but it's…somewhere to start. The Gaunts' house in Little Hangleton. Where Merope Gaunt, Tom Riddle's mother, lived."

"It's as good a place as any to start," Remus said with a nod. "When?"

"Soon," Harry said. "Before school starts again. I'm not sure if Ron, Hermione and I will really be ready but I don't think we have the luxury of time anymore."

"Well, you know you can call on the Order for help," Remus said firmly.

"Yeah, I know," Harry said with a smile. "But I think this might be a good test for the Trinity. It's probably time we made ourselves known to Voldemort."

Remus chuckled. "I don't think Voldemort knows what he's stirred up."

Harry's reply was interrupted by the arrival of Dobby with lunch. Harry thanked the little house elf and the two of them levered themselves off the couch and sat down to eat. Once they had finished, they turned their attention and new-found resolve back to the Headmaster's notes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Dobby appeared at about six pm that evening and told them dinner was ready and could they please go to the dining room. The little house elf then disappeared as Harry and Remus exchanged amused looks.

"Well, at least we know where my party is," Harry said dryly as they packed up the notes they had been looking through.

Remus chuckled. "Very convenient. What do you want to do with the locket and the goblet?"

Harry hesitated for a moment. "Um, let me take them upstairs. It's not that I don't trust anyone here, I just don't want to take any risks."

Remus nodded. "I'll see you in the dining room then."

Harry grabbed the goblet and the locket, cursing quietly at the slight magical charge from the goblet, and quickly ran up the stairs to his bedroom. He stuffed the goblet and locket in his trunk underneath some of Dudley's old clothes then he clattered back downstairs. He paused at the door to the dining room and took a deep breath before pushing the door open.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" came the shout from many voices as he walked in the room and he started laughing.

Ron and Hermione descended on him and pulled him into the crowd. He received many slaps on the back as he was dragged over to the table and pushed gently into a chair. Everyone took their seats amid much chattering and once they were all seated the food appeared. Harry looked around and saw that Ron and Hermione were sitting to one side of him and Ginny and Remus to the other. Directly opposite him were Bill and Fleur and he leaned forward to speak to Bill.

"How did it go on the full moon?" he asked. This was the first time he'd seen Bill since that night.

"Strange but okay," Bill replied. "Remus was right, I didn't change but I don't think I would have wanted people around me. I lost track of time on several different occasions during the night and I lost my temper for the most ridiculous reasons as well. I scuffed my feet a little too hard once and got dust in my nose." He grinned a little sheepishly. "Let's just say there's one less chair in the Shack now and a new pile of kindling."

Harry gave a short laugh. "But you're okay?"

Bill nodded. "Yeah, definitely okay. Quite frankly I think I got lucky." He paused. "Merlin knows I'm luckier than Remus. I think these scars are a small price to pay for an escape from Greyback."

Harry nodded a little sadly. Bill's scars were still quite unsightly and probably would never completely heal but they certainly looked better than when he'd first seen them in the Hospital Wing.

"Speaking of Greyback, I heard you set Fred and George a bit of a challenge. A werewolf repellent," Bill said with a grin. "They've been working their butts off every time I've seen them. They said they were going to take the opportunity to corner Remus tonight."

"I'm glad they're taking it seriously," Harry replied.

"I think they feel guilty about the use that Peruvian powder of theirs was put to that night," Bill replied dryly. "Besides, I know they hide it well but Fred and George have always taken their responsibilities seriously."

"Zey are very creative," Fleur added, sounding impressed. "I thought zey were wasting zere time but when I saw some of what zey have developed…well, zey are very talented."

"Yeah, Mum's finally come to that conclusion as well," Bill said with amusement. "You might even be able to tell her you gave them their start up money without her yelling at you."

Harry snorted with laughter. "Erm, maybe not."

Bill grinned, something that looked almost frightening with his scars. "How's your training with Moody going?"

Harry groaned. "Good but he's a slave driver."

"Best way to learn," Bill replied with absolutely no sympathy.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry grumbled good-naturedly.

"We are getting better though," Hermione said, leaning around Ron. "I could hardly run more than five minutes when we started. I manage about ten minutes before having to slow down now."

"See, told you it was the best way to learn," Bill said with a grin.

The conversation drifted then into more mundane topics and Harry settled in to enjoy his birthday.

Severus stood with the outward appearance of calm from his position beside the Dark Lord and watched Draco approach. The young man looked apprehensive and worried as he knelt with admirable grace before his Lord.

"You failed me, Draco," Voldemort hissed with displeasure. "I gave you a task. Not an easy one, I will admit, but one that I thought was well within your capabilities. But you failed."

Draco wisely did not say anything, not even a plea for mercy. He merely pressed his forehead to the floor and shivered.

"Had Severus not made a promise to your mother, my plan would have failed entirely," Voldemort continued, rising to his feet and walking around the kneeling boy. "I suppose it is just as well Severus was there. He succeeded where you failed. That is why he stands beside me and you…kneel before me." He stood right in front of Draco's head. "Well, boy? Do you have anything to say to me?"

Draco shivered. "No, my Lord," he said, his voice muffled.

"You are wiser than some then who insist on spouting lies and false platitudes," Voldemort said with a malicious smile. "Still, that does not alter anything. It merely saves you from receiving worse." He pulled his wand out and pointed it at Draco. "_Crucio_!"

Draco writhed on the floor as pain ripped through him and shortly he was screaming. Finally the Dark Lord ended his spell and Draco slumped, panting heavily.

"You have placed Severus in great danger and robbed me of a valuable spy in the Order's camp," Voldemort said almost conversationally. "Severus, I believe that warrants you having your opportunity."

"Thank you, my Lord," Severus said with a respectful bow. He pulled his wand out smoothly and pointed it at Draco. He considered the young man on the floor in front of him for a moment then said, "_Crucio_."

Draco writhed again and this time his screams started immediately. Severus eyed Draco almost clinically as he held the curse then he finally ended it.

In the silence that followed, Narcissa's gulping sob was clearly heard.

Voldemort whirled around to eye the blonde woman who was standing next to her dark sister. "You weep for your son, do you, Narcissa?" he said as he prowled over to her. "Your son who failed _me_?" he snorted. "I suppose I should not be surprised. You ran straight to Severus after Draco received his task, didn't you? Begged for his help, I hear. Oh, don't look so surprised. Severus is nothing if not loyal. He informed me of your actions immediately after you left."

Narcissa shot Severus a single look of betrayal that he sneered at.

"Take your son out of my sight, Narcissa," Voldemort said with disgust. "And see if you can teach him what it is to be a Death Eater. I shall call on him soon enough and should he fail again…"

The Dark Lord did not finish that sentence but his implications were clear enough. Voldemort would not tolerate a second failure.

Narcissa rushed forward and knelt beside her son. He moaned as she turned him over.

"Bella!" she demanded and her sister scowled before stalking over.

Between the two of them, the women got Draco up and helped him out of the room. Voldemort looked around the room at the silent Death Eaters.

"Get out," he snarled. "And remember the penalty for failure. Severus, you will remain."

The Death Eaters filed out of the room as Voldemort walked over to his Potions Master.

"What progress have you made with a cure for Nagini?" he demanded.

"It is clear she has been poisoned, my Lord," Severus replied. "But the poison has defied every attempt I have made to identify it. It is either being concealed by magic or is something…new. I have scoured my library and have found some new avenues to explore. In the meantime I have brought several restoratives for her. They should slow the progress of the poison until I can identify it."

"I asked for a solution, not more platitudes!" Voldemort snarled. "She cannot die, Severus. _Crucio_!"

Pain ripped through Severus' body and his knees went from underneath him. He shuddered through the pain, keeping his lips clamped over his screams. When the pain finally stopped, he rose shakily to his feet and brushed his hair back from his face.

"Forgive me, my Lord," he said bowing deeply to hide his tremors.

Voldemort paced back and forth furiously for several minutes, deep in thought. He then whipped around and staggered momentarily before recovering.

"What I tell you now must not be shared with anyone else, Severus," he said menacingly. "Should I find you have discussed this with even one other person, you will not live to tell a second."

Severus bowed again. "You may be assured of my silence, my Lord."

Voldemort eyed him for a long moment before speaking again. "In my youth I discovered the secret to making myself immortal. It was this knowledge that allowed me to survive the disaster with the Potter boy. I discovered the means and the method for creating a Horcrux, Severus."

Severus' eyes widened. "I thought that knowledge was lost?"

"It almost was," Voldemort said with a sly smile. "But I found it again. And that is not the limits of what I managed to do. For having just one Horcrux did not seem safe to me and certainly it did not seem powerful either. I discovered a method of creating more than one." He chuckled maliciously. "It was far easier than I thought. I created the first when I was still at Hogwarts. I was _seventeen_, Severus, and they dare to say Dumbledore was more powerful than _I_. What had _he_ done at seventeen?"

"Most remarkable, my Lord," Severus said with admiration. "How many did you create?"

"Six," Voldemort said with smug pride. "To create seven sections of my soul. A magically powerful number, seven. That is why I did not die when my curse rebounded off the Potter boy. Five sections of my soul remained safe and thus I could not die."

Severus blinked. "Five, my Lord?"

Voldemort chuckled. "Yes, I thought you would pick that up, my clever Potions Master. Your intelligence has always been your greatest asset. Yes, _five_. I meant to create my sixth Horcrux that night. The Potter boy's death was to be the catalyst. After my restoration, I was able to complete my plan." He paused and whipped around to face Severus, once again wavering for a fraction of a second. "And _that_ is why Nagini must not die, Severus. _She_ is my sixth Horcrux. The injuries I sustained last year still hamper me. I do not have the strength to create another Horcrux at the moment. She _must_ live, Severus."

Severus was silent. "My Lord, I have never deliberately lied to you and I will not now, no matter the consequences. I believe the poison that afflicts Nagini was created especially for her. I cannot be entirely sure but it seems the most likely option." He paused. "If that is the case, I may not be able to cure her before she succumbs."

Voldemort stared at Severus furiously and he mentally braced himself for another round of the Cruciatus. But the Dark Lord stayed his hand.

"You give me honesty now and risk my anger rather than lie and ensure it," Voldemort murmured, almost to himself. "Once again, I say your intelligence is your greatest asset, Severus. Very well, I shall take your warning under advisement."

"I shall bend all of my efforts towards identifying the poison and creating an antidote, my Lord," Severus said in a mollifying tone. "I merely wished to…prepare you for the possibility of failure."

Voldemort cocked his head to one side, his red eyes resting in near benevolence on Severus. "You are the rarest amongst my Death Eaters, Severus. One so confident of his place at my side that he can admit to failure."

"My place at your side is entirely at your command and your command alone. If you wish another to take my place, I will stand aside," Severus replied carefully. "If I am confident then it is merely in my own abilities. My Mastery was well earned."

Voldemort chuckled. "Your place is assured, my clever Potions Master. You rid me of a considerable thorn in my side and for that you have been well rewarded. Do your best for Nagini. Her survival is of great importance."

With that the Dark Lord turned and stalked out of the room. Severus sighed and sagged where he was standing for a moment then he too left the room.

The party was in full swing and Harry was deep in conversation with Moody and Bill when a trickle of pain ran through his scar. He gasped and his eyes widened as he flinched. It had been over a year since he'd felt _anything_ through the link.

"Harry?" Bill said with concern. "What wrong?"

"Uh, I'm not sure," Harry said as he waited to see if anything else would happen.

"Potter?" Moody growled when the silence stretched on.

Harry shook his head. "No, it's alright. I…just felt something through my scar."

"What?" Moody asked sharply.

"Pain but not much and it went away almost immediately," Harry said, rubbing his forehead.

"I thought all of that stopped," Moody barked.

"Yeah, it did," Harry replied feeling a little taken off guard. "But the Headmaster said it was because of Voldemort realising I was getting information from him as well as the other way around."

"Settle down, Alastor," Bill said calmly. "I don't think we need to worry just at the moment. Maybe something happened that got the better of Voldemort for a moment."

Moody stared at the two of them for a long moment then nodded curtly. "If it happens again, tell someone, Potter. We can organise for an Occlumens to train you."

Harry nodded then he frowned. "I thought there weren't that many Occlumens around."

"There are plenty of them around," Moody growled irritably. "True, there aren't many as good as Voldemort, Snape and Dumbledore but they could train you irrespective of that. Every Auror receives at least some instruction in Occlumency."

"I think we should add that to our training schedule then," Harry said decisively.

Moody nodded. "It was already on there. I wanted to get you lot a bit more proficient in non-verbal spell casting before we started on that."

"Good," Harry replied. "Thank you, Alastor."

"I'll bet you're giving him more horrible ideas about how he can torture us," Ron said suspiciously as he and Hermione wormed their way into the group.

"I don't need to do that," Harry replied dryly. "He comes up with all of his horrible ideas on his own."

Moody and Bill chuckled but Hermione ignored them as she grabbed at Harry's arm.

"Harry?" she asked hesitantly. "Did…did you find…anything in those crates?"

Harry nodded. "Lots of things, Hermione," he said softly. "But in terms of what you're asking about, yes. There was a goblet with lions carved on it that matches one on the lists Bill and Minerva gave us. It's definitely got a lot of magic involved in it" He grimaced. "You get this little magical charge, like an electric shock, whenever you touch it."

Bill nodded. "That makes some sense. The spells used to contain magical energy can do that before they're completed."

"So this is most likely the proto-Horcrux?" Hermione asked.

"Without seeing it, I'd say yes," Bill replied with a shrug. "That could change after I have a look at it." He paused and grinned at Harry. "I assume you'll let me have a look at it?"

Harry nodded. "You're the cursebreaker. You'll undoubtedly know more than we will."

"I'd be interested in seeing the real Horcrux as well," Bill added.

"Okay," Harry said after a short pause.

Before he could say anything else, Fred and George came charging over, huge grins on their faces.

"Presents!" they bellowed as they grabbed Harry by the arms and frogmarched him into the living room, everyone else laughing and trailing in their wake. They hauled the laughing Harry over to the table where all the presents had been piled and picked up the first one, shoving it in Harry's hands. Harry paused for a moment then, with a certain amount of childish glee, he ripped open the wrapping paper.

Half an hour later he was surrounded by ripped wrapping paper and there was a pile of unwrapped presents on the table. Mrs Weasley eyed him with amusement as she waved her wand and the wrapping paper disappeared.

"Thank you, everyone," Harry said as he turned to face his guests. "This has been a great birthday. Now everyone get back to enjoying themselves."

Everyone laughed and did just that.

Severus apparated into an alleyway in Hogsmeade and carefully made his way to the Hog's Head. He slid in through the back door and then down to the Headmaster's room. Albus was sitting in an armchair, reading a book. He looked up when he heard the Potions Master enter and his face became grave.

"What has happened?" he asked with concern.

Severus pulled off his cloak and draped it over the back of the couch. He then dropped down onto the couch and scrubbed his face with his hands, his lank hair falling forward. Albus rose and poured a glass of wine, handing it to the Potions Master when he raised his head.

"Thank you, Albus," he murmured.

Albus sat back down and chuckled. "If only your students could see you now, Severus. They would not believe that you are the real article."

Severus directed a half-hearted scowl at the Headmaster and let his head drop onto the back of the couch.

Albus sobered. "Ah, it went that badly, did it?"

"Draco was punished at the Dark Lord's hand and my own," Severus replied, a hint of self-loathing in his voice. "His mother has reclaimed him and he will only receive one more chance. The Dark Lord will not tolerate further failure from that family."

"I am sorry, Severus," the Headmaster said quietly.

Severus waved one hand absently as he raised his hand and sipped at the wine. "I am aware of that. Something of more importance happened this evening."

"Yes?" Albus asked, seeming to be a fraction distracted.

Severus saw this and his eyes narrowed. "What is it? Are you well?"

"Quite well, Severus," the Headmaster replied. "Please continue."

Severus eyed the Headmaster suspiciously for a moment. "The Dark Lord told me of the reason why Nagini must survive," he said.

Triumph flared in Albus' eyes. "He told you of the Horcruxes?"

Severus nodded. "He did not tell me what they were other than Nagini," he warned. "Though he did say he created one when he was seventeen."

Albus nodded, looking unsurprised. "Yes, I know. Do you think he will trust you with the knowledge of the others?"

"Unknown," Severus replied, looking a little thrown by the Headmaster's response.

Dumbledore caught that look. "Forgive me if I keep a few cards close to my chest, Severus. But you can not be suspected of having more information than you should rightly possess."

Severus scowled then sighed and nodded. "Very well." He paused and eyed the Headmaster curiously. The older man seemed oddly subdued and even sad. "What is wrong?"

Albus was quiet for a long time. "Do you know what day it is today, Severus?" he said in a thoughtful tone then he answered his own question. "No, likely you do not."

Severus frowned. "It is July 31st." He paused and blinked. "Ah, it is Potter's birthday if I recall correctly."

Albus looked at him with surprise. "Indeed it is, Severus. I was not aware you knew that."

Severus scowled. "After six years of dealing with the irritating boy you expect me to have missed that tiny detail? With the way the rest of the Order prattle on about it every year?"

The twinkle returned to Albus' eyes. "Then perhaps you also know how old Harry is today?"

Severus' eyes narrowed then he sighed. "Seventeen. He is of age."

"Indeed," Albus replied, still with that twinkle in his eyes. "I wonder how this will change things."

Severus leaned back on the couch. "The Dark Lord is rather distracted," he mused. "I would have expected him to have…prepared something for Potter. It is his style."

"Has he even remembered?" Albus asked with surprise.

"He did not mention it," Severus replied. "But he _will_ remember at some point."

As though that sentence had been a harbinger, Severus felt pain flare through his left arm and he swore quietly.

"Ah, perhaps he _has_ remembered," Albus said sadly. "Go, dear boy, and be careful."

Severus put the wine glass down and pulled the back cloak around his shoulders. "I am always careful, Albus," he said a little more sharply than he intended.

He stood and stalked out of the room, remembering to revert to a more subtle method of moving as he opened the door at the top of the stairs. He then slid out the back door and, after a quick look around, apparated back to the Dark Lord.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Severus walked into the large room the Dark Lord used for his meetings to find the man pacing back and forth, looking rather maliciously pleased with himself. He turned when Severus entered and the smile that stretched his thin lips sent a shiver straight down Severus' spine.

"Severus! Good, you are prompt," Voldemort hissed, his red eyes glowing. "Come with me."

Severus inclined his head respectfully and took his position to Voldemort's right, staying just one pace behind the other man.

"I have been somewhat distracted today," Voldemort said as they walked out of the room. "So much so I nearly forgot that I owed someone a little birthday present."

"Potter," Severus said flatly.

Voldemort chuckled. "Yes, indeed. After all, it would be churlish of me not to get the _Chosen One_ –" His voice took distinct overtones of sarcasm. " – a birthday present for his coming of age."

Severus chose not to answer but another shiver went down his spine at the thought of what was likely to happen tonight. The Dark Lord had been keeping the link between himself and Potter closed after he'd realised how much information Potter was getting from it but Severus had no doubts that whatever happened tonight, the Dark Lord would be opening that link and letting Potter see it all.

They walked out of the house and Severus let his gaze flicker over the village of Little Hangleton. Odd that the Dark Lord would choose to inhabit his muggle father's house. The house itself was layered with more wards and protective spells than Severus ever thought possible and the notice-me-not charms were equally strong. It would take a powerful witch or wizard…or a Death Eater…to fight the compulsion to go elsewhere.

Severus' thoughts were pulled into line when the Dark Lord placed a hand on his shoulder and apparated them both to the outskirts of a small village. About fifty feet away was a small cottage sitting dark and sleeping in the night. He glanced at the cottage then looked inquiringly at his Lord.

"A muggleborn witch and her parents," Voldemort hissed as he headed straight towards the cottage. "A little entertainment for the boy."

Severus followed the Dark Lord, his face set and taut. This was undoubtedly going to be unpleasant for everyone except Voldemort. When they got to the house, Voldemort decided on the flamboyant approach and, with a word and a quick flick of his wand, the front door shattered inwards with a loud bang. Voldemort strode into the house, his robes swirling around him though Severus did see the slight hesitation in the other man's stride.

The loud concussion from the door being blown in had had the required effect. The three occupants of the house had stumbled out of their bedrooms and Voldemort quickly had them bound and gagged, lying on the living room floor. Severus looked down at the young girl and recognised her as a Second Year Hufflepuff. The girl's eyes widened as she recognised him and then they filled with hate and anger. Severus sneered at her and looked to the Dark Lord for direction.

Voldemort closed his eyes for a moment then he chuckled. "Happy birthday, Harry," he said maliciously then he levelled his wand at the young girl lying on the floor. "_Crucio_!"

The girl screamed and her father yelled muffled insults and her mother wept. Voldemort chuckled and gestured for Severus to join in. The Potions Master glided forward and set the Cruciatus on the mother, leaving the father to gasp out his impotent rage. For the next half an hour the two of them turned curse after curse on the unfortunate family then Voldemort suddenly staggered backwards. His face was filled with anguish and anger and his body looked as though it was wracked with pain. Severus took an abortive step towards the Dark Lord but before he could do anything Voldemort snarled and, with three quick gestures, sent the Killing Curse at the girl and her parents.

Voldemort then staggered over to the wall and leaned on it as Severus hurried to his side.

"My Lord?" Severus said warily.

Voldemort ignored him as he seemed to concentrate on something inside him then the pain apparently vanished and he straightened.

"Come," Voldemort snapped and Severus hastened to obey.

As soon as they were out of the house, Voldemort clamped a hand down on Severus' shoulder and they apparated away. Once back at Riddle Manor, Voldemort stalked in and Severus followed warily in his wake. The Dark Lord was clearly in a foul mood and that was not how this night was meant to end.

"My Lord?" Severus asked carefully as they entered the room where the meetings were normally held.

Voldemort whirled around and this time the waver was far more pronounced. The glare was not affected at all and for a brief moment Severus tensed himself in preparation for the Cruciatus.

"Leave, Severus," Voldemort snarled.

Severus bowed and quickly took himself out of the room. Whatever had affected the Dark Lord undoubtedly stemmed with Potter and once he calmed down, Severus did not want to be a target for the Dark Lord's anger. As he walked down the halls of Riddle Manor, Severus wondered what had happened. He had never seen the Dark Lord affected by Potter before.

Harry climbed up the stairs towards his room with a feeling of contentment. Ron and Hermione were walking behind him, holding hands he was rather amused to see. He gave them a small wave goodnight as he opened the door to his room and grinned when he realised neither had seen it. They were too busy talking quietly to each other. He shook his head and walked into his room, closing the door behind him.

He got changed into his pyjamas and wandered over to the window where Casimir was perching and gently stroked the phoenix's head as he looked out into the night.

"I wish he was still here," he murmured to the phoenix. "He'd have liked tonight."

Casimir sung a liquid note that shivered through Harry and made him smile briefly. He stroked the phoenix's feathers for a few more minutes then sighed and headed for bed. He lay looking at the ceiling for a few minutes before sleep overcame him.

He didn't know how long he'd been asleep when he suddenly came awake with a jerk. He stared into the darkness of the room and frowned as he tried to determine what had woken him. A sudden trickle of pain through his scar was all the warning and explanation he got before the pain intensified and he was flung out of his own body and into another. He dimly heard a scream sound through the room before he lost even that much knowledge.

He gasped as he realised he was looking down at a young girl of about twelve and what must be her parents. The three of them were bound and gagged and looked terrified though oddly enough there was a hint of anger and hatred fading in the young girl's eyes.

"Happy birthday, Harry," a malevolent voice echoed through his head and he moaned. Voldemort had decided to reopen the link.

Harry watched with sick realisation as what seemed to be his own hand rose and pointed a wand at the young girl. When the word "_Crucio_" was hissed he desperately tried to pull away from Voldemort's mind even as the pain from the curse washed over him and made him scream. When the curse ended he panted then he mentally snarled as Snape glided into view and cast the Cruciatus on the girl's mother.

For the next half an hour Harry witnessed the pain and torture of the girl and her parents as he tried more and more desperately to pull himself out of the vision. He could dimly hear the voices of Remus and Mr and Mrs Weasley but they could not seem to help. Then he felt something warm touch his lips and he flinched and gasped. The warmth took advantage of that and he suddenly realised he was being kissed. Then the warmth disappeared and he made a wordless sound of protest.

"Harry," he heard Ginny say gently. "Come back. You can do it."

Then the warmth was back and it really penetrated through the vision and the pain that he was kissing Ginny. He felt a warmth flow through him and one hand snaked up through her hair in an almost involuntary movement. The kiss deepened a fraction and Harry felt an enormous contentment flow through him, closely followed by delight, passion and something that, if he even really knew what it was, might be love.

He felt more than heard Voldemort's reaction. The Dark Lord snarled in his mind then was gone as suddenly as he'd appeared. The immediate pain disappeared, leaving a dull ache in its wake but Harry ignored that in favour of the kiss that still consumed his attention. When Ginny finally pulled away, he opened his eyes and gazed at her with a lazy smile.

Her smile was more one of relief. "Harry!" she said as she slumped down on to sit on the side of the bed, one hand fumbling after his.

That was when Harry realised she had been half-kneeling on the bed and that the room was full of rather fuzzy people.

"What?" he mumbled as he groped after his glasses, sliding them onto his face.

"That's the question we were hoping you could answer," Remus said gently as he stepped forward, placing a hand on Ginny's shoulder.

Harry groaned as he flung an arm over his eyes, squashing his glasses down a little painfully. "My head hurts," he said, in an effort to delay the inevitable.

"Here," came Hermione's slightly shaky voice and he felt a vial being pressed into one hand.

He opened his eyes and gave a weak smile before downing the contents of the vial, grimacing at the taste.

"Damn. And I'd always thought it was Snape's fault the potions tasted terrible," he said, trying for a genuine smile this time but failing.

"Harry?" Remus said gently. "Was it Voldemort?"

Harry nodded. "My birthday present," he said bitterly. "He and Snape torturing and killing a family. I think the girl goes to Hogwarts. She looked vaguely familiar."

The atmosphere in the room became decidedly grim and there were a few low murmurs. A few of the people in the room disappeared in response to those murmurs.

"Did Ginny's plan work?" Remus asked with a small smile. "She remembered something you said about when Voldemort possessed you at the Ministry. How it was thoughts of how much you loved Sirius that drove him out. She thought she'd try it her way."

This time the smile on Harry's face was genuine. "Yeah," he whispered. "It worked."

He tilted his head over to look at his girlfriend. She was gripping one of his hands tightly and watching him with an expression that was both relieved and slightly grim.

"Thank you," he murmured, squeezing her hand slightly.

She smiled at him, a hint of impishness deep in her eyes. "It wasn't _any_ trouble at all."

Harry gave a soft huff of laughter. "Yeah."

There were small sounds of amusement and Harry blushed a little. The he remembered why all of those people were in his room and his face became stricken.

"Oh no you don't" Ron said with sudden fierceness and in the background Harry could hear Hermione ordering everyone out of the room.

He hardly felt Ginny lean forward and kiss him on the cheek before she too was gone and only Ron and Hermione remained.

"Don't you dare!" Ron said fiercely, almost angrily and Harry stared at him in shock.

"Don't you dare start to feel guilty about this!" Ron continued, leaping forward and pulling Harry into a sitting position. "The fact that that family died _is not your fault_! Blame Voldemort! Blame Snape! _They_ killed them! You didn't!"

Hermione came forward and placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Ron, ease up," she said softly then she turned to Harry. "Ron's right. It's _not_ your fault and if you give in to this then Voldemort wins."

Harry looked at Hermione sharply as her words sunk in. He hardly even noticed Ron letting go of him, looking slightly sheepish.

"Sorry, mate," Ron muttered.

"No, no, it's alright," Harry said slowly. "You're right. I know you're right. It's just…hard. When…the visions are always from _his_ perspective. It…looks like it's me that doing…_that_."

"It's _not_ you," Hermione said quietly but firmly as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Ron came and stood beside her.

Harry drew in a deep, shuddering breath then let it out slowly, feeling his thoughts start to straighten out. "Yeah," he breathed. He swallowed hard and did his best to pull himself together. "I want to know who they were."

"Moody's gone with Kingsley and Tonks to find out," Hermione said. "They said it should be easy enough. The magical detectors in the Ministry would have picked it up. The fact that the family is probably Muggle except for the girl will make it easier."

Harry shoved himself into a more comfortable position. "I think we need to start with whatever Occlumency training Moody can give us as well. As nice as Ginny's solution was it's not going to be possible every time this happens."

"Do you think he's going to start sending you visions again?" Ron asked, looking worried.

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I think this was just because it was a…" His voice became bitter. "…a _special occasion_. My birthday present he called it."

"Bastard," Ron muttered under his breath before looking nervously towards Hermione, clearly expecting a disapproving look.

Hermione caught that glance and snorted. "What? You're right. He is a bastard."

Ron mugged an overly shocked look. "Hermione Granger _swearing_! What has the world come to?"

Hermione gave him an exasperated scowl and mimed a swipe at his arm.

Harry gave a muted laugh. "He's got a point there, Hermione."

Hermione rolled here eyes then smiled wryly. "I think we're all being saying things a lot worse than _bastard_ before this is over."

Ron snorted and Harry sighed.

"Speaking being over, I think it's time we actually got this started," Harry said, running a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"It's something I've been thinking about for the last week or so," Harry elaborated, shifting slightly and grimacing as his body complained. "I think those memories that the Headmaster showed me were for more than giving me information about what Voldemort was like when he was younger. I think there might be hints about where the remaining Horcruxes are in them."

"I don't suppose Dumbledore kept those memories," Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know but it doesn't really matter. I was planning on asking Minerva whether I can borrow the Headmaster's pensieve and getting Moody to show me how to use it. I remember going through those memories so we can use mine."

"So what were you planning?" Ron asked.

"To start at the beginning," Harry said firmly. "With the Gaunt's house. I don't know what, if anything, we can find there but…"

"It's a place to start," Hermione concluded as she nodded. "We need to start _somewhere_."

Ron nodded as well. "When?"

Harry sighed and scrubbed his face with one hand. "We've got a month until we go back to school. I'd like to do this in no more than two weeks. Just in case we need some recovery time."

"You're expecting trouble?" Ron asked.

"Well, not _expecting_ it as such," Harry replied. "But I'm just covering all the bases. And considering our track record." He shrugged.

"Good point," Hermione said dryly. "You and Ron ended up in the Hospital Wing after our annual fracas with Voldemort in First Year. Me in Second Year. Ron again in Third Year. You again in Fourth Year. Ron and I in Fifth Year." She chuckled. "It's not a good pattern. And that's not including all of your extra trips to the Hospital Wing for assorted reasons."

"We did manage to stay out of there this year," Ron said lightly. "Maybe we're starting a new trend."

"You believe that?" Harry said dryly.

"Yeah, maybe not," Ron replied with a laugh. "I wonder how many times Madam Pomfrey's going to yell at us this year?"

"Hopefully not that many," Hermione said. "Maybe we'll be able to butter her up when we present her with the stocks of potions we've been making." She stood and looked down at Harry. "You should try and get some more sleep, Harry. I doubt Voldemort will try and get back into your mind and you need your rest."

Harry nodded and pulled his glasses off. "It's worth a try."

"Do you need anything for the pain?" Hermione asked. "I brought a few things up." She gestured behind her to a number of vials on the dresser.

Harry nodded and Hermione walked over to the potion supply. She picked one up and brought it back, waiting while Harry drank it. She then took the vial back and watched while Harry slid back under his blankets. Ron nudged her shoulder and the two of them left the room, dousing the lights and closing the door behind them. Harry stared into the dark, giving a bit of a start when Casimir began to sing softly from the windowsill. The phoenix song slowly lulled him into sleep.

When he woke the next morning, he felt a great deal better…physically at least. The memory of what Voldemort and Snape had done to that family still lingered and he grimaced as he got out of bed. The hot shower managed to relieve many of the remaining aches and that also allowed him to shove the memories aside. He got dressed and stumped downstairs to the kitchen where Hermione and Ron were eating breakfast and Mrs Weasley was fussing over the stove.

The three of them looked around as Harry walked in and Ron and Hermione waved before going back their food. Mrs Weasley looked like she wanted to fuss over him but she stopped herself and clattered away at the stove with the pans instead. Harry sat down with a sigh of relief and a genuine smile to Mrs Weasley when she placed a plate of eggs, bacon and toast in front of him. The three friends finished their breakfast then headed downstairs. Their running today was much slower than normal. Harry didn't really want to push his luck after the previous night and Ron and Hermione seemed to want to keep an eye on him. They were in the middle of their cool down when Moody walked in.

'The girl's name was Rose Zeller," he said gruffly after greeting them. "Second Year Hufflepuff. Aurors found her and her parents dead. Killing Curse most likely. No sign of Voldemort or Snape."

Harry nodded grimly as Hermione and Ron exchanged glances. All three gave a start when Moody clapped his hands together sharply.

"No point getting maudlin," the ex-Auror barked. "Won't help 'em. Let's get on with it. _That_ will."

The trio of friends nodded and lined up facing the shielded wall, waiting for Moody's first instruction. The events of the previous night seemed to aid their training. There was no joking or friendly moaning about the workload, just grim determination and the sound of spells hitting the shielded wall.

At their first break, Harry looked over at Moody. "Attitude helps with the non-verbal spells, doesn't it?"

Moody nodded. "Well done, Potter. Belief is a powerful thing. If you _want_ to be able to cast 'em and believe that you can, you'll be able to do it." His eyes narrowed. "You lot have got something in mind, haven't you?"

Harry nodded. "I want to make a little trip to Little Hangleton."

"The Riddle place?" Moody asked with a frown. "Place is abandoned. The Aurors checked right after hearing what happened during the Third Task."

"Really?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I thought they didn't believe Harry," Hermione said disapprovingly.

"_Fudge_ didn't," Moody said with a malicious grin. "But tell me, who was Head of the Auror Office at that time?"

Ron and Hermione looked blank but Harry nodded slowly. "Rufus Scrimgeour," he said slowly.

"Exactly," Moody replied. "Now Scrimgeour's got his faults but blind idiocy isn't one of them. _He_ believed you, Potter, he was just circumspect about it. He had the Riddle place checked out. It showed signs of being used but had clearly been empty for some months. He had it checked again after he became Minister. It was empty then as well."

"So _that's_ why," Harry muttered, almost to himself.

"_What's_ why?" Ron asked.

"Why Scrimgeour seemed so upset with Dumbledore when he wouldn't let anyone from the Ministry near me," Harry replied. "He must have thought that his tacit support would be rewarded when he became Minister."

"What do you think of our new Minister?" Moody asked searchingly.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, he's…better than Fudge, I suppose."

Ron snorted. "Not that that's difficult."

Moody chuckled. "You've got that right. Why the suppose, Potter?"

"He's…he sounds like what Crouch was like during the last war," Harry said abruptly. "I mean Stan Shunpike's not the brightest spark but he's no Death Eater. I think they know that too, they just don't want to look like they're panicking by letting him go. It'd send the message that they're overreacting."

Moody nodded approvingly. "Good. You noticed. Rufus Scrimgeour is a good man. I should know. I helped train him. But he has a tendency to be…overzealous at times. And he doesn't like to admit he's wrong."

"Will he be my enemy?" Harry asked bluntly.

Moody leaned against a table and considered the question. "No," he said eventually. "He wants Voldemort gone as much as you do. You won't support the Ministry the way he wants so he won't be your _friend_ but if you ask for help, he'll send it."

"Good," Harry said with relief. "That's the important thing right at the moment. We can always work behind the scenes to help people like Stan Shunpike."

Moody eyed Harry narrowly. "You've been talking with Arthur?"

Harry nodded. "Him and Bill. They've given me a lot of good advice. Mr Weasley said he'd work on the Minister. Drop a few quiet words that I consider him to be a friend and surrogate father. Mr Weasley said the Minister wouldn't need much more prompting."

Moody chuckled. "Good on him. Yeah, Scrimgeour'll be smart enough to pick up that hint. _He_ knows how important you'll be in this fight. He knows that Chosen One stuff the papers have been going on about isn't entirely garbage. That plan will work well. Now, why did you want to go to Little Hangleton? Is there a Horcrux there?"

Harry shrugged and grimaced. "I don't know. I don't think so but I need to start getting a feel for this whole thing and since that's where Voldemort's story starts, I think it might be a good place to start as well."

Moody considered that plan. "Not a bad idea. Were you going to the manor house?"

"No, the Gaunt's house," Harry replied. "It's nearby though. On the hilltop opposite the manor house."

Moody tilted his head back and thought for a moment. "Oh yes, _that_ place. Not much of it standing these days. Who lived there?"

"Voldemort's mother, Merope Gaunt," Harry replied.

"When are you planning on going?" Moody said with an interested movement of his head.

"Some time in the next two weeks," Harry replied. "Do you think we're ready?"

Moody scratched his head. "Give it another week," he said gruffly. "I want to get you lot more used to using non-verbal spells and moving properly."

Harry nodded. "Good. That's what I wanted to know."

"Well then, let's get back to work," Moody barked. "Face the wall! Wands up! Let's get that Sectumsempra spell down right."

Harry, Ron and Hermione squared their shoulders and obeyed their orders.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

A week later, Harry was standing in front of the mirror in his bedroom, adjusting the collar of his new duelling robes and making sure his Trinity symbol was securely fastened. Madam Malkin had sent an owl the previous day saying they were ready and Harry felt that was all the omen he needed to set up their trip to Little Hangleton. The robes were black and consisted of a black silk shirt, black dragonhide trousers with the black robe over the top. The robe fastened snugly over their stomach and chest to provide extra protection. Dragonhide gloves and boots finished off the outfit. All parts of the robes had been impregnated with protective spells and they'd tested them the previous evening. They would get a reasonable amount of protection against most of the lesser spells and at least some protection against the more powerful hexes.

"We look good," Ron said with a grin as he walked into the room, his Trinity symbol gleaming at his throat.

Harry looked over at his friend and grinned. For once Ron was wearing something that was tailored to him and him alone rather than being a hand-me-down or second-hand and he _did_ look good in the new clothes.

"Yeah, we do," he said in reply, quite prepared to keep the light atmosphere going.

Ron stood beside him in front of the mirror and the two boys admired themselves. "We _definitely_ look good."

"Would you two like to get a room?" Hermione said dryly as she walked in, pulling on her gloves and adjusting the Trinity symbol at her throat.

Harry and Ron turned to look at her and their eyes widened.

"Bloody hell," Ron said with a low whistle. "If we look good, you look _great_!"

Hermione blushed though a small, pleased smile lingered on her lips. "I don't think that's the point, Ron," she said almost primly. "Just as long as the robes _work_."

"Yeah, okay," Ron said innocently though his eyes still hadn't left Hermione.

Harry snickered and smacked Ron on the shoulder. "Concentrate, Ron," he said with amusement. "We've got work to do tonight."

Ron pulled himself together. "Yeah, right! Of course. How are we getting there?"

"We're portkeying to Little Hangleton," Harry explained, pulling an old mitten out of his pocket. "Kingsley organised the portkey for us. It'll land us on the other side of Little Hangleton to the manor and Gaunt's house and it'll portkey us back to the courtyard out the back of the Leaky Cauldron."

"Do we need to tell anyone we're going?" Hermione asked.

"They already know," Harry replied. "Remus and Mrs Weasley will be waiting for us."

The three teens stared at each other for a moment then Ron reached out and placed a finger on the mitten.

"Let's get this show on the road," he muttered.

Hermione nodded jerkily and also placed a finger on the mitten. Harry stared down for a moment, making sure within himself he wanted to commit them to this action then he looked up and said, "Trinity."

The three students felt the familiar fishhook-in-the-navel feeling of the portkey as they were pulled to their destination. They came to a crashing halt in a small copse and got to their feet. Harry tucked the mitten back into his robes and looked around to get his bearings. He found the small mark on the tree that Moody had said would indicate the direction they needed to take.

"This way," he said quietly to the others and they started walking.

They quickly found the trail that Moody had told them about and followed it as it circled the village of Little Hangleton. As they walked, the sun set and they finished their journey in the early evening gloom. Finally the trail came to an end as the woods they had been walking through also came to an end. Harry paused and surveyed what was in front of them. To their right and slightly behind them lay the village of Little Hangleton and directly in front of them, perhaps three hundred feet away, was the collection of trees that hid the remains of a small cottage. Harry looked beyond the cottage and saw the Riddle manor house looming black and intimidating through the gloom. He glanced around again but saw nothing moving. He pulled out his wand and gestured for Ron and Hermione to follow him. Their trip down to the cottage was trouble-free but they still walked very warily between the trees.

"Creepy looking place," Ron muttered as they got closer.

Harry looked the cottage over and compared it to what he remembered. The place had looked run down and decrepit in Bob Ogden's memory but looked even worse now. The roof was entirely bare of shingles and the windows were all empty of glass. The nettles had all but over taken the walls and the moss looked grimy and dank.

"Only looked a bit better in Ogden's memory," Harry muttered back.

"And people actually _lived_ here," Hermione asked as they used magic to clear the nettles away from the door.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "If you want to call it _living_."

"What is _that_?" Hermione said with disgust, pointing at the door.

Harry and Ron leaned forward then Ron recoiled back making a disgusted noise at the sight of the snakeskin and bones that hung from a nail on the door.

"Merope's brother, Morfin, did that," Harry explained grimly as he pushed the door open, avoiding the grisly decoration. "He wasn't exactly what you'd call _sane_. Neither was his father for that matter."

Ron grunted as they walked into the ruin of a house and the three of them used the Lumos spell to light their way. The inside was a mess; wrecked furniture combined with a thick layer of dirt and grime obscured most details. The stove had been overturned at some point and coal lay spilled onto the floor. It also looked like the fire had overrun the fireplace at some point. It was blackened and burned along with much of the wall around and above the fireplace. They picked their way through the mess until they stood in the middle of the house.

"What a mess," Ron said with a grimace.

"It can't always have been like this," Hermione said, sounding unconvinced.

"It was cleaner when Marvolo Gaunt and his children lived here but not by much," Harry said with distaste. "The furniture was intact anyway."

"So what are we looking for?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "Let's just look around."

Ron and Hermione nodded and the three friends split up. Harry stayed in the main room while Ron went through the door that led to the single bedroom and Hermione went through the door that led to the tatty bathroom. Harry looked around the ruined room for a moment then stepped over the remains of the furniture until he got to the blackened fireplace. He crouched down beside it and played the light from his wand over the bricks. He sifted through the soot and charred pieces of wood for a moment then brushed his hand off on his robes and stood. He was just picking his way over to the kitchen area when he heard Ron's yell from the bedrooms.

He leapt over pieces of wrecked furniture as he ran towards the bedroom, just avoiding running into Hermione when she darted out of the bathroom. Hermione came to a teetering stop and allowed Harry to go first. Harry ran into the bedroom and found Ron standing backed up against one wall, the light from his wand trained onto the floor.

"Ron! What's wrong?" Harry gasped.

Ron beckoned him over. "That thing damned near took my hand off!" he said with indignation.

Harry walked around the two sagging and dust-ridden beds and looked down on the floor. Curled up in the corner of the room and hissing savagely was a small black adder. Harry blinked down at it then the hissing began to make sense.

"_Stay away, nasty, nasty, stay away, leave me, leave me,_" the little snake was hissing over and over again, its tongue flickered out constantly to taste the air.

"_Shh, it's alright. No one is going to hurt you,_" Harry hissed back in Parseltongue.

The snake curled around again then looked up at Harry. That was when the light from his and Ron's wands reflected off the snake's white eyes and Harry realised the little snake must be very old to have actually gone blind.

"_You speak?_" the snake hissed querulously.

"_Yes_," Harry replied patiently.

"_You stay?_" Harry could plainly hear the loneliness in the snake's plaintive hiss.

Harry paused. "_No, we cannot stay. Perhaps you could come with us. You would be warm and well-fed._"

The little snake hissed nervously and its head waved back and forth indecisively for a while then it steadied. "_Take me. Hungry. Cold._"

Harry stepped forward carefully and reached out to the snake.

"Harry!" Hermione said warningly.

"It's alright," Harry replied as he crouched down next to the snake. "He's just lonely…and cold and hungry. And frightened. He's blind, I think."

"_I am about to pick you up,_" Harry hissed gently. "_Do not be afraid._"

He gently picked up the little snake and allowed it to wind around his hand and wrist, smiling slightly at the tickle of the snake's flickering tongue. He then walked over and joined his friends. In the light from all three wands they could see that the adder's black scales glistened with green and yellow highlights and the contrast with its blind white eyes was marked.

"It's very pretty," said Hermione, sounding as though she was trying to convince herself.

Ron gave her a look of disbelief. "How has it survived?"

"I don't know," Harry replied. "I'll ask."

He held the snake up a bit and caressed it with his thumb. "_How have you survived here alone, little one_?"

The snake hissed in pleasure and leaned into his caresses. "_The big one comes here. She brings food but not often._"

Harry frowned then his eyes widened. "_Does the big one have a name?_"

"_Nagini_," the little adder hissed contentedly.

"Merlin!" Harry breathed. "Nagini comes here. She brings him food." He turned and hissed to the little snake, "_When was she last here?_"

"_Long time,_" the snake said grumpily. "_Many suns._"

"But she hasn't been here for a while," Harry continued to Ron and Hermione.

"Do you think Nagini's nearby?" Ron asked.

The three of them turned and looked out the window, where they could see the vague hulk of the manor house against the starry sky.

"Didn't Moody say the house was empty?" Hermione objected.

"That was two years ago," Harry replied.

"But didn't he also say that the Aurors checked here after Scrimgeour became Minister?" Hermione continued.

"And that was a year ago," Ron said. "I suppose he could have moved back in since then. Should we check?"

Hermione looked like she was about to object when Harry shook his head.

"No, we're not ready," Harry said firmly. "We need to destroy the Horcruxes before we confront Voldemort."

Ron nodded and Hermione looked relieved. "What do you want to do now?" she asked a little shakily.

Harry opened his mouth to answer then he looked down at the little snake curiously.

"_Did you belong to Morfin?_" he hissed.

"_Master Morfin,_" the snake hissed with distaste. "_Don't like._"

Harry gave a wry grin. "_He wasn't very nice._"

"_No, not nice. Nasty, nasty,_" the snake hissed. "_Mean._"

"_What's your name, little one?_" Harry asked suddenly.

"_Master Morfin called me Snake,_" the adder hissed in reply. "_I don't like that name. I am more than Snake._"

Harry gave a small laugh. "_It isn't very original._" He tilted his head back in thought for a moment. "_How about Asmodeus?_"

The little snake hissed and swayed from side to side. "_Asssmodeussss_," it hissed, drawing the sibilants out happily. "_Yes!_"

Harry chuckled as the newly named Asmodeus curled himself comfortably around his wrist.

"_Asmodeus? Has there been anyone else here like me since Master Morfin left?_" he asked carefully, unsure of how much the elderly and blind snake actually understood.

"_Master Marvolo was here,_" Asmodeus hissed contentedly.

"_And after him?_" Harry hissed patiently.

Asmodeus hissed lightly as he considered the question. "_Two before you,_" he hissed, sounding pleased with himself. "_A speaker and an man with white hair._"

Harry frowned as he thought that through then his eyes widened. A speaker and a man with white hair – surely that meant Voldemort and Dumbledore.

"_What did the speaker do?_" he asked.

"_Searched,_" Asmodeus replied. "_Searched then left. Then he came back and laughed._"

"_Was that all_?" Harry asked, trying not to get frustrated with the snake.

"_Left something_," Asmodeus hissed, shifting around Harry's wrist. "_I went and looked. Nasty, nasty. Not food. Round and cold. Black and gold._" Once again the snake sounded pleased with itself.

"_And the man with white hair_?" Harry asked.

"_He came and found. Took the nasty, nasty with him. Good,_" Asmodeus replied.

Harry gently stroked the snake's head. "_Thank you, Asmodeus. You've been very helpful. I will take you somewhere warm and you will be fed well._"

Asmodeus hissed lazily. "_Good. Warm. Food. Good…Name?_" The voice became slightly querulous at the end.

"_Harry. My name is Harry._"

"_Good Harry_," Asmodeus hissed before curling himself around Harry's wrist and tucking his head amongst his own coils.

Harry looked up at his friends. "If I've understood Asmodeus correctly, this is where Voldemort found his grandfather's ring. He took it then came back and hid it here. Dumbledore found it and took it with him."

"Asmodeus?" Hermione said dubiously.

"He wanted a name," Harry replied. "It sounded like a good one and he seems to like it."

Hermione shook her head and looked around. "Do we need to stay here any longer? It's really creepy."

"I don't think there's anything left here to find," Harry said. "Let's go."

"Is…Asmodeus coming with us?" Ron asked, looking at Harry with surprise.

"I promised him I'd take him somewhere warm and where he'd be well-fed," Harry replied. "I think he deserves that much. It can't have been easy putting up with Morfin and Marvolo and then being left here all alone." He rolled his eyes at Ron's expression. "He's _old_, Ron, and blind. I'm not even sure he'd have any venom _left_. He's harmless…and lonely."

Ron muttered something under his breath that sounded like "Parselmouths" and led them out of the bedroom. They picked their way through the wreckage of the living room and walked out the door.

Severus Snape drew his cloak around him more tightly and walked along the path that led away from Riddle Manor. He'd brought another potion that would appear to treat Nagini while hurrying her along the path to death. A flash of light caught his eye and his head turned sharply to find it. There were lights in the ruined house on the other hilltop. He stopped and stared at the lights for a moment then veered off the path, heading directly across the fields.

He came to the house just in time to see three figures leave and in the light from their wands he could see exactly who it was. Potter, Weasley and Granger. Just as he identified them, Potter stopped and stiffened, glancing around suspiciously.

"Harry?" he heard Granger say softly.

"Asmodeus says there's someone else here," Potter replied pushing them into the shadows of the ruined house and dousing the light from his wand.

Severus ducked into the shadows of a nearby tree as Granger and Weasley followed Potter's lead.

"Are you sure?" he heard Weasley whisper. "You did say the snake is old. Maybe it's senile too?"

Severus frowned. Snake?

"Ron, he's blind," Potter said quietly but firmly. "If there's one thing we can trust it's Asmodeus' sense of smell." Severus heard a sharp intake of breath from the boy and a low hissing noise. "He says he smells mandrake and nightshade and belladonna."

"Snape!" Ron hissed angrily and Severus moved a bit further around the tree away from the three teens.

"Harry!" That was Granger, sounding alarmed and almost frightened.

"He's _here_, Hermione." Severus closed his eyes and actually shivered at the rage and fury in Potter's quiet voice. "The murdering coward is _here_." Anger flared momentarily before Severus shoved it very firmly down.

"Harry, we're not _ready_," Granger said frantically, obviously groping for some reason to stop the boy.

_Listen to the girl, Potter,_ Severus thought as calmly as he could. _This is not the time or place to do this. If I have my way, we will not face each other until Albus can stand between us._

It was not fear that prompted Severus' thoughts; he did not fear Potter. He was wary of Potter's power and what he might do with it. Severus had no desire to die just yet and he knew that the boy was angry with him for what, if it were true, would be a very good reason. And that, he supposed, was the real answer. He knew Potter had power enough to kill him. He'd had the upper hand during that rolling fight as he and Draco fled Hogwarts. Potter had been distraught and that made his reactions slow enough for Severus to counter his attempts. He did not think Potter was aware of how much power he had been putting into his spells. He had worked hard to stop the boy's every attempt to cast a spell, knowing that with that much power behind them, he'd have been hard pressed to counter every one of them once cast.

And he'd succeeded though he'd been forced to attack the boy quite hard in the end, faking his anger at the use of his own spells, letting himself think it was James Potter using those spells to manufacture enough rage. In truth, the boy's name calling had jarred him. No one, not even Albus, knew how hard it had been for him to cast that Killing Curse. To strike down even a simulacrum of the man he thought of as a father. And he'd let something slip that he had not intended. His pride at the name he had called himself. His pride at being the Half-Blood Prince. Not even Voldemort knew who the Half-Blood Prince was and he'd made several attempts to find out.

"Mate, you said you didn't want to get involved in anything too deep just yet." That was Weasley's voice, reluctantly trying to turn back his friend.

"He's just one man," Potter ground out through what sounded like clenched teeth.

"But if your suspicions are right and Voldemort _is_ using the manor house then he'd be close enough to hear it if we got into a fight with Snape," Granger said with desperate logic. "You said it yourself; we're not ready to face Voldemort. We need to destroy the Horcruxes and we might just get badly hurt if we try facing him now."

Severus could almost feel the rage flowing out from Potter. Then the feeling of rage suddenly ceased and he heard an inarticulate sound, something between a cry of fury, a howl of anguish and a choked laugh. It could only have come from Potter's throat.

"Run and hide, Snivellus!" came the frustrated cry from Potter and his anger flared momentarily at the old nickname. "One of these days it'll be the right time and you'll pay for what you've done!"

"Harry, come on!" It was Granger again and Severus risked looking out from behind his tree.

Potter was standing away from the house, clearly silhouetted against the starry night sky and Severus could tell from the boy's stance that this was deliberate. Potter was trying to provoke him into an attack. Granger and Weasley were still standing hidden in the shadows of the house though he could see one arm stretched out and thought it must belong to the girl. As he watched Potter stared into the dark then he turned and gestured sharply, angrily, to his companions, pulling something out of his robes. The two teens crept warily out from the shadows and each stretched out a hand towards Potter's hand.

As Severus watched, Potter looked around once more then he swore he heard the boy growl in frustration. Then he definitely heard Potter say, "Trinity" and the three teens disappeared.

Severus stepped out from behind his tree and stared at where the students had been standing. So they had worked out where the Dark Lord was hiding. He wondered how they'd come to that conclusion. He also wondered what they had been doing here. Obviously there was something about a snake but he couldn't imagine even a Parselmouth like Potter coming all this way for a _snake_. He shook his head; Albus would need to know about this, perhaps he would have some answers. With that final thought, Severus apparated away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Harry, Ron and Hermione stumbled into each other and the nearby wall when the portkey deposited them in the back courtyard of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry took a deep breath before discarding the mitten into a nearby rubbish bin then he turned on one heel and wordlessly led his friends into the pub. The place was nearly empty, an odd state of affairs for this time of night, with only a couple of hardy souls, hooded and all but anonymous and to all intents and purposes drinking steadily in one corner. A quick flash of red hair from under the hood of one of these drinkers revealed who they were and Harry gave the twins a brief, curt nod before striding over to the fireplace. He pulled a small bag of floo powder out of his robes and offered it to Ron and Hermione before following them through.

He stumbled out into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place to find Remus standing and waiting for him while Mrs Weasley fussed over Ron and Hermione. Remus took one look at Harry then stepped forward with alacrity, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" he asked with concern.

"Snape was there," Harry growled.

Mrs Weasley gasped. "Are you hurt?" she asked of all three teens.

Harry shook his head. "No, he stayed hidden." He relaxed a fraction and smiled grimly. "And Ron and Hermione wouldn't let me do anything stupid."

"Good," Remus said firmly then he paused and frowned. "Hang on, if Snape stayed hidden how did you know he was there?"

Harry held up the wrist that Asmodeus was wrapped around. "He knew," he said.

"He's an adder, isn't he?" Remus said after examining the snake from a safe distance.

Harry nodded. "He's very old and blind and I promised him I'd take him somewhere warm and where he'd be well-fed. He was Morfin Gaunt's snake and he was very helpful."

"What should I get for him?" Mrs Weasley asked, eyeing the snake nervously.

"A dish of warm milk for now," Harry replied. "And his name is Asmodeus."

Mrs Weasley bustled away looking uncomfortable but seemingly glad of having something to do. She was back shortly with a small dish of warm milk and she placed it on the table before returning to the stove. Harry sat down at the table and carefully unwound Asmodeus from his wrist, hissing soothingly to the little snake. He placed the snake near the milk and Asmodeus perked up when his flickering tongue scented the treat.

Ron and Hermione joined him at the table as did Remus and they watched as Asmodeus tentatively tried the milk. Mrs Weasley joined them carrying five mugs of hot chocolate and even she was forced to smile at the little snake's obvious delight.

"How was Asmodeus helpful?" Remus asked after a sip of his hot chocolate.

"He's been there since the Gaunts lived there," Harry said, the last of his anger dropping away as he wrapped his hands around the warm mug. "He belonged to Morfin Gaunt. He's never left. He said that Voldemort came there twice. Once to find something that I'm fairly sure was Marvolo's ring. That ring that Dumbledore had last year. The second time Voldemort was there must have been to hide the ring. Then Asmodeus saw the Headmaster arrive to find the ring."

"So there was a Horcrux there," Remus said musingly.

Harry nodded. "He also told us that Nagini used to visit him."

Both Mrs Weasley and Remus stared at Harry in surprise.

"We speculated that Voldemort must be using Riddle Manor and I think Snape's appearance supports that," Hermione said. "He must have seen the light from our wands."

"Why didn't he attack us though?" Ron said with a frown. "That's what doesn't make sense."

"Yes, it does," Hermione replied before anyone else could. "It would have been three against one and even though he's more experienced than us I think we could have defeated him. There's also the fact that Voldemort wants to kill Harry personally. I think Snape would get into trouble if he did it. This isn't like the situation with the Headmaster."

"I guess," Ron said dubiously. "I still think it's odd that he didn't even throw a single _insult_ at us, let alone a spell."

"Yeah, that was a bit odd," Harry said as he rather absently stroked Asmodeus' head. "He's never passed up an opportunity to have a go at me before. Hell, I even tried provoking him."

"What did you do?" Remus said with a hint of disapproval and anger in his voice.

Harry looked at him neutrally. "Called him names," he said flatly.

Remus grimaced; he was well aware of which name Harry was likely to have used. "That didn't provoke him?" he asked instead of chiding Harry like he really wanted.

Harry shook his head. "Not even an insult came out of it."

"Very odd," Remus said thoughtfully as he sipped his hot chocolate. He knew how much Snape hated the name James and Sirius had given him.

"Why would Nagini bring Asmodeus food?" Ron asked absently as he stared at the little snake. "I mean it's not like they're the same species or anything."

Harry shrugged as the last of the anger and tension from the evening bled off, leaving him feeling a touch lethargic. "_Asmodeus? Why did Nagini come down to see you?_"

The little snake looked around blindly from his treat. "_She was lonely,_" he hissed. "_She said her speaker was always busy and hardly ever spent time with her._"

Harry blinked then looked over at Ron. "She was lonely apparently. Voldemort was ignoring her a bit."

"Snakes get lonely?" Ron asked, also starting to look like he was about to fall asleep.

"Doesn't everybody?" Harry muttered, unaware of the sudden sharp looks he got from the others. His voice hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought.

Remus took a deep breath and clapped his hands, startling the others. "Time for bed, I think," he said firmly.

The three teens looked like they wanted to protest then Mrs Weasley began fussing over them and they reluctantly surrendered. Harry hissed to the little snake then scooped him up. They trooped up the stairs wearily before wandering along the corridor toward their rooms. Harry paused at the door to his room and turned to face his friends.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"What for?" Hermione said gently.

"Tonight," Harry replied. "Being stupid. Trying to provoke Snape."

A compassionate look settled on Hermione's face and she took one of Harry's hands in her own as Ron gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I just…_hate_ him," Harry whispered. "The Headmaster pleaded with him but that didn't stop him. He just…did it. Killed him. Professor Dumbledore spent years defending him, gave him a job and a home and he was an evil bastard all along. He was wrong." The last was said with an ineffable sadness.

"Who was wrong?" Ron asked carefully.

"Dumbledore," Harry said heavily. "He always said Snape could be trusted." He looked up at his friends and they winced at the weary and almost defeated look in his eyes. "But he was wrong. Snape is a Death Eater and Dumbledore paid the price for his mistake."

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances, unsure of what had prompted this mood in their friend.

"Get some sleep, Harry," Ron said after a long silence. "It'll all look different in the morning."

Harry just stared at him. "Will it?"

"Well, Mum always says so and she's usually right," Ron said with the tiniest hint of a smile.

Harry's lips quirked and his mood seemed to lift fractionally. "Yeah, she usually is. Night, guys."

He turned and opened the door and slipped quietly into his room, closing the door behind him. Ron and Hermione stared at the closed door for a moment then they headed towards their own rooms. They stopped outside Hermione's door and Ron bit his lip nervously as he looked down at the girl. He rolled his eyes in exasperation when he realised that Hermione was deep in thought.

"Hermione?" he prompted and she gave a start and looked up at him. "You were miles away," he continued.

She blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ron." Her voice trailed off and Ron recognised her 'figuring-out-a-problem' expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked pragmatically.

"Professor Dumbledore pleaded with Snape," she said absently.

Ron frowned. "Yeah. So?"

"Doesn't that strike you as a touch odd?"

Ron shrugged. "He was ill and he must have figured out by that stage that Snape wasn't there to help him. I'd plead for my life too."

"You maybe," Hermione said. "Me as well. But Professor Dumbledore?" She looked up at him curiously. "It doesn't strike you as just the tiniest bit odd?"

Ron was about to make a flippant response when Hermione's words struck him and his brow furrowed in thought. "Well, yeah, I suppose it is. But I'm not sure where you're going with this, Hermione. Dumbledore's _dead_. We saw the body and the whole phoenix and tomb thing and everything. _Harry_ saw his body."

Hermione scowled and looked down at the floor. "I _know_," she said with some frustration. "It's just…odd."

Ron rather nervously took one of her hands in his. "Hermione, sometimes things _are_ just like they seem. I mean, yes, it _is_ odd that Dumbledore pleaded but he was ill and he was seeing the true colours of a man he trusted." He shrugged. "I guess it just affected him more than we thought it might."

Hermione sighed and nodded then she looked down at their joined hands. Ron shifted nervously and tried to take his hand back but Hermione wouldn't let him go. He blushed a bright red. She smiled up at him then leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Thank you, Ron," she said quietly before letting go of his hand and slipping into her own room and closing the door.

Ron stared at the closed door for a moment as one hand drifted up and touched his lips where she had kissed him. He smiled rather goofily and took a deep breath; no matter what else was happening, everything was pretty much alright in _his_ world right now.

"Ron?" Remus' soft, slightly hoarse voice startled him.

Ron whirled around and blushed, his ears turning bright red. "Er, hi, Prof…Remus."

Remus' lips twitched. "Weren't you meant to be going to bed?" he said with a calm interest that hid his amusement.

"Er, yeah," Ron said then his grin widened. "She kissed me."

"That's good," Remus said, unable to stop the amused smile this time.

"Yeah," Ron said happily.

Remus watched the happy, slightly dazed look settle in on Ron's face and chuckled. James had looked alarmingly like that when he and Lily had first started going out.

"Ron?" he said getting the young man's attention. "Bed. Sleep. It's probably not a good idea to stand outside Hermione's room all night."

Ron blinked then nodded. "Er, right!"

As Remus watched the young redhead meandered along the corridor towards his room. He hastily swallowed a laugh as it took Ron three tries to get the door open then he let that laugh out as a chuckle when the young man disappeared inside his own room. He shook his head and walked up to Harry's door. He carefully opened it and peered in. There was a single candle burning on the bedside table and he could see Harry's curled up on his side under the blankets. Casimir was perched on the windowsill, watching his master while Hedwig was doing the same from the top of the wardrobe. He could see the little adder coiled up on the bedside table at the base of the candlestick.

He silently walked into the room and over to the side of the bed. Harry was apparently fast asleep but his face still looked drawn and tired. Remus reached out and hesitated slightly before brushing the messy fringe out of Harry's eyes. Tonight had been the Trinity's first mission and it seemed to have gone well except for Harry's bout of idiocy with Snape. Remus silently resolved to tell Moody about that. Harry might not be too happy with him but Moody would soon set him straight. Of course there was a slight possibility that since Harry had been honest enough to tell him that he might also tell Moody.

A rustling from the windowsill made him turn and he saw that Casimir was watching him with interest. He walked over to the phoenix and gently stroked the feathers on its head.

"Now where did you come from?" he murmured to the phoenix. "I know for a fact that leadership of the Order does not entail getting a free phoenix. Albus already had Fawkes when he started the Order."

Casimir looked smug and butted his head into Remus' hand when he stopped his caresses. Remus raised an eyebrow as he started petting the bird again.

"Remus?" came Harry's sleepy voice from behind him.

He turned around and saw the young man squinting at him blearily.

"Hey," he said softly, walking over to the bed. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"S'okay," Harry said groping after his glasses. He grabbed them and shoved them onto his face. "What's up?"

"I just came in to see if you were okay," Remus said as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Harry considered that in silence. "Are you mad at me?" he asked suddenly.

Remus sighed; he didn't need to ask for the why on this question. "Yes. No." He gave a small huff of laughter. "I'm not sure actually." He paused. "Why did you do it? You could have been hurt…or killed."

Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I'm not sure," he said quietly. "I just…got angry."

"Are you going to tell Moody?" Remus asked.

Harry stared at him for a long moment then a grin flashed across his face, surprising Remus but warming him nonetheless.

"I guess I'd better," Harry said. "Because I get the feeling that if I don't, you will."

"It…had crossed my mind," Remus admitted.

That grin flashed across Harry's face again. "Actually I'm more worried about Ginny finding out," he said ruefully.

Remus laughed at that. "That's your own fault. Red-haired women are temperamental. I remember Lily actually throwing things at James on occasion."

Harry started to look a little worried. "Ginny wouldn't do that, surely?"

Remus chuckled as he stood. "She's a red-head and you did something stupid. I'd make sure I talked to her in an empty room."

Harry began to look alarmed and Remus grinned. He brushed his hands together with an air of amused satisfaction.

"Well, my work here is done," he said.

Harry scowled then laughed. "I'd throw a pillow at you but then I suspect I'd just have to get up and get it myself."

"If you throw your toys out of the cot, I won't pick them up," Remus confirmed.

Harry laughed. "Somehow I don't believe that. I'll bet you were the first person to pick up my toys when I threw them out of the cot."

"Well, me or your mother," Remus conceded with a smile. "Sleep well."

"Thanks," Harry replied as he pulled off his glasses and Remus headed for the door. "You too."

Harry was the last one down in the training room the next morning and he did a bit of a double take when he walked in. Ron and Hermione were standing _very_ close to each other and talking quietly. Then Hermione laughed and gently brushed Ron's cheek causing him to blush and smile shyly. The redhead leaned down and very gently kissed Hermione. Harry leaned against the doorjamb and smiled.

"So everything's sorted out and I'm not going to have to put up with everything I did during the last year again," he said in a conversational tone as Ron and Hermione jumped apart. "Because that was really awkward for me, you know."

Ron and Hermione stammered out several incoherent words until Harry laughed and walked into the room. Before he had a chance to say anything further, he heard a very angry female voice yell down the stairs.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! GET UP HERE!"

He sighed as Ron snickered and Hermione smothered a grin.

"I'd say Mum just told Ginny what happened last night," Ron said, looking innocent.

"Do you think I could ignore her?" Harry asked, looking plaintive.

Hermione snorted with laughter. "Not if you want to live," she replied merrily. "My advice is to go up there and face it now. If you let her stew about it, you'll only make it worse."

"She's right, mate," Ron said. "And _my_ advice is to head her off at the pass." He shook his head then continued in an exasperated tone, "And I can't believe I'm giving you advice on how to deal with my _sister_."

Harry decided not to laugh at that and headed for the door. As he walked up the stairs he debated how to handle this. Finally he decided that maybe Ron was right and he opened the door at the top of the stairs. He found Ginny waiting for him in the hallway and the moment she saw him she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the parlour.

"What did you think you were doing?" she yelled as soon as the door closed behind them. "Baiting Snape! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Or tortured?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Ginny, I'm fine. I know it was a stupid thing to do. I was angry and I wasn't thinking. I won't do it again, I promise. And I'm sorry."

Ginny glared at him then she stomped across the room and gave an inarticulate shriek. She whirled around and Harry was relieved to see a hint of humour in her eyes.

"You're really annoying, you know that," she demanded. "I was all ready to have a good yell at you and then you go and apologise and grovel before I can do anything!"

"Er, sorry?" Harry offered carefully, swallowing a sudden urge to giggle.

Ginny snorted then shook her head and walked over to him. "Please be careful," she said quietly. "I promised to stay safe for you. Can you please promise to be careful for me?"

Harry closed his eyes for a moment then he pulled Ginny into his arms. "I promise I will be as careful as I can."

Ginny's eyes closed at the wording of the promise but she didn't call him on it. She knew what he had to do and she knew how dangerous it was. And she knew asking for the moon would just get her disappointment in the end. She'd just have to take what she could get.

Harry tipped his girlfriend's head up and kissed her gently. He'd felt something clench inside him when he'd made that promise. He knew if it came down to it and he had to take a risk to finally defeat Voldemort, he'd do it. No matter how much danger it involved or how badly he could be hurt or even if it could kill him. He _had_ to do it. But he supposed he _could_ tone it down on the deliberate baiting of Snape.

"Potter!" Moody's growl startled them apart and Harry looked over his shoulder wildly.

The grizzled ex-Auror was standing in the doorway with a glint in his eye and what Harry could only call a smirk on his lips.

"If you're finished molesting your girlfriend, we've got work to do," Moody growled.

"I wasn't _molesting_ her," Harry replied indignantly as Ginny began to giggle. "I was _kissing_ her. There's a difference."

"So you say," Moody said suspiciously. Harry blinked at him then he saw the gleam of humour in the older man's eyes.

"Well, yeah, I mean there's a fundamental difference between _molesting_ and _kissing_," Harry continued lightly, enjoying the deepening of the amused gleam in Moody's eyes.

"Oh? And what's that, Potter?" Moody said, willing to go with whatever punch line Harry was setting up.

"If I had been _molesting_ Ginny I'd now be lying on the opposite side of the room in a new and interesting shape while she whistled for her _six_ brothers and let them finish the job," Harry said with a grin. "But since I was _kissing_ her…with her consent…I'm standing upright and am very tempted to do it again."

He looked down at Ginny to find her smothering her laughter then he heard hoarse, barking laughter come from Moody.

"Never a truer word spoken, Potter!" the ex-Auror said with gruff amusement. "Now come on. We've got work to do."

Harry gave Ginny a quick kiss. "Duty calls," he said wryly and she laughed and waved him off.

He walked over to where Moody was standing and the older man clapped him on the shoulder before they headed down to the training room.

"You look surprisingly unhexed," Ron said to Harry with a grin as he and Moody walked in. "I thought she'd get a Bat-Bogey in at the very least."

"I took your advice," Harry replied. "I headed her off at the pass."

"What did you need to tell me, Potter?" Moody interrupted as he leaned against a table. "It must be something pretty good if Lupin was evasive and your girlfriend was angry."

Harry ran a hand through his hair and glanced over at Ron and Hermione. They looked back at him blandly and he realised he wasn't going to get any help from that quarter. He ran his hand through his hair again then rather nervously tried to flatten it. He glanced up at Moody and saw the man was waiting patiently.

"I, er, got a little angry last night," he admitted reluctantly. He knew this was not going to go down well with the ex-Auror.

Moody nodded calmly, knowing from experience that there was more to it than just that. "Go on," he growled.

"I…er, I…Snape was there. In hiding somewhere, not at the house," Harry continued even more reluctantly. "I…tried to…bait him into attacking me." The last bit came out in a rush.

"How?" Moody said flatly.

Harry winced. "Um, called him names. Moved out into the open so I'd be an obvious target."

"And did he attack you?" Moody asked.

Harry shook his head. "Didn't say a word or do anything."

"Well, at least one of you had some sense," Moody growled then he pushed himself off the table and thunked over to where Harry was standing and got right in the young man's face. "What in Merlin's name did you think you were doing, Potter?" he bellowed which caused Harry to flinch. "Or were you even thinking at all?"

"I wasn't thinking. I was angry," Harry said softly, his eyes dropping to his feet.

"I understand _that_, Potter! We're all bloody angry at Snape," Moody growled as he started to pace in front of Harry. "But when you are out in the field you cannot afford to feel anger. You have to be _objective_. You have to _think_! If you don't, you are going to get yourself and your friends killed."

Harry's eyes flicked up to Moody then over to Ron and Hermione. He nodded silently.

"When you are out on a mission, you are a _commander_," Moody continued. "And you are responsible for the safety of those with you. Did you think about _that_? How much danger did you put Granger and Weasley in trying to talk you out of your fit of insanity?"

"I don't know," Harry muttered. "Some."

"You can get angry when the mission's over, Potter," Moody continued. "_Never_ during. You have to be aware of _everything_ going on around you and anger robs you of that ability. Were you paying attention to anything other than Snape? Or could Voldemort have crept up behind you and killed you where you were standing while you were busy?"

Harry swallowed but didn't say anything, a red flush staining his cheeks. It was answer enough.

"Right, that's it," Moody said firmly. "You three are standing down from any more missions until _I_ say you're ready."

"What?" Harry yelped, staring at Moody in disbelief. "You can't do that!"

"_You_ were the one who agreed that I would be in charge of your training," Moody continued inexorably. "_You_ gave me the right to say whether or not you three were ready to go out on missions. Well, now your chickens have come home to roost, boy. You showed last night that you are _not_ ready. Ergo, no more missions until I say so."

"I'm the leader of the Order," Harry said hotly. "You can't stop me from going on missions."

Moody's face became hard and anger crept into his eyes. "Oh, yes I can. I stopped Albus, I can stop you. Is this how you're going to act in the Aurors? Questioning your orders? You won't last long, boy."

Harry glared at Moody then in a sudden sharp move he pushed past the older man and stormed out of the training room. Ron and Hermione made a move to follow him but were stopped by Moody's outstretched hand.

"Let him go," the ex-Auror said calmly. "He needs to think this through on his own."

"You're not angry with him?" Ron asked, looking a bit startled at Moody's response.

Moody laughed gruffly. "No, Weasley. A little disappointed but not angry. He got lucky. For some reason Snape played it safe. Merlin only knows why but I suppose we can be thankful for his restraint. You got out of that without anyone getting hurt. I've stood the three of you down for a reason. Potter needs to learn to control his anger. To shove it down and direct it properly out in the field." He paused. "If any of you had been hurt _then_ I would have been angry."

"He's always had a bit of a hot temper," Hermione admitted. "Can he do it?"

"If I could, he can," was Moody's reply. He looked over at the two students. "Potter will be fine. He needs to think this through but he's smart enough to see that I was right. He'll be back and he'll apologise. If not today then tomorrow."

"You sound very sure of that," Hermione said dubiously.

Moody chuckled. "Took me three days to apologise to _my_ instructor but Potter's a bit smarter than I was back then. He's been through more. Now, what are you two waiting for? Aren't you supposed to be running?"

Ron and Hermione sighed and glanced over at the door again then they started in on their training.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Harry stormed up the stairs and slammed the door at the top open. He charged down the corridor, pushing past the two people standing in the hallway without looking and ran up the stairs. Once he got to his room, he slammed the door closed behind him and paced around, his fists clenched angrily.

"He can't do that!" he burst out after several minutes of pacing back and forth, his feet thudding angrily into the carpet. "Who is he to make that kind of decision?"

"An experienced Auror whom _you_ chose to train you," came a voice from the doorway.

Harry yelped in surprise and whipped around. It was a measure of how angry he had been that he hadn't even heard the knock on the door or the door subsequently being opened. When he turned he saw Tonks standing in the doorway. He glared at her then went back to his pacing. Tonks walked further into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Remus told me what happened," she said calmly, ignoring the glare Harry directed at her. "Then I got the brief overview of what Moody said to you. He's right, you know."

Harry stopped pacing and slowly turned to face Tonks. The young Auror ignored the angry look on his face.

"And I can't believe you spoke to him like that," she continued soberly. "It doesn't matter who you are or what your role is. You handed over the responsibility of your training to Moody. It's _his_ job to determine when you are ready for field operations. You deliberately put yourself and your team in danger. I can tell you for a fact that would get you automatically suspended from field duties in the Aurors. And not only that, you'd probably be up on disciplinary charges. You are _not_ supposed to endanger your fellow Aurors or yourself in that manner."

Harry flinched at that then he shook his head and glared again. "He can't stop me from going after the Horcruxes!"

Tonks sighed. "He's not going to. For Merlin's sake, Harry! Stop just reacting and _think_! He's done exactly what would have happened in the Aurors. He's _suspended_ you from field operations until you are a bit better trained. He's not stopping you entirely." She paused. "You need to learn to control your temper better. He won't lift the suspension until then."

Harry opened his mouth to say something scathing then the truth of what Tonks had said struck him and he closed it again. His shoulders fell and he slumped down onto the bed.

"I didn't mean to," he said quietly. "But it was _Snape_. And I was there when he…" He couldn't quite finish that sentence.

Tonks sighed and walked over to sit next to him. "I know you were," she said kindly. "And I think we all understand why you're angry with Snape. Hell, we are too. But Harry, if you want to be trained like an Auror, you're going to have to start acting like one as well and that means taking orders from time to time. Moody was right and I think you know that."

Harry took a deep breath then let it out. "I guess."

Tonks snorted and stood. "There's no _I guess_ about it." She paused and looked down at Harry. "Think about it. Take your time. I doubt Moody's expecting you back down there today."

With that she walked out of the room leaving Harry to brood on everything that had been said to him that day.

Severus woke with a start and looked around warily, a bit bewildered as to where he was. Then realisation set in at the sight of Albus Dumbledore ensconced in a chair by the fireplace, his brother sitting opposite him.

He'd come to the Hog's Head and the Headmaster's hiding place from the Gaunt's house and found the old man having difficulty breathing. After he'd found the Headmaster in the Shrieking Shack, he'd easily identified the potion the older man had drunk so copiously as the Pavidus Potion. A potion that causes a trembling, quaking fear to overcome the drinker. Normally not that dangerous but when the amount that the Headmaster had drunk was taken into consideration, well… The overdose of the potion had caused a certain amount of internal damage. The damage was not irreparable but it was debilitating while it was healing.

The emergency he'd walked into the previous night had not been life-threatening at that point in time and Albus had admitted he'd been about to summon Aberforth when Severus appeared. He'd dosed the Headmaster with potions to ease his breathing and to continue counter-acting the effects of the Pavidus then gotten the older man into bed where the Headmaster had succumbed to sleep. He'd been too tired from the meeting with the Dark Lord, the encounter with Potter and his friends and finally this little emergency to return to his temporary home so he'd chosen to sleep on the couch.

He sat up abruptly and smirked at the startled reactions from the two brothers.

"Ah, Severus," Albus said urbanely, recovering from the surprise well. "It's good to see you awake. I was a little worried. Are you well?"

Severus ran a hand down his face. "Quite well," he replied archly. "Yesterday was merely…eventful."

"Ah well, I apologise for my part in that," Albus said, a twinkle in his eyes. "Was the meeting that bad?"

Severus shook his head then gave Aberforth a thankful nod when the older man summoned some tea and toast. "No, the new potion I gave Nagini was perfect. I merely had to listen to the Dark Lord's usual ravings. No, it was after the meeting that matters became…interesting."

"Do tell," Albus said with a raised eyebrow.

Severus paused long enough to drink some tea and eat the toast, secretly enjoying the Headmaster's amused impatience.

"As I was leaving Riddle Manor, my eye was caught by light coming from the ruined house on the opposite hilltop," he began, leaning back on the couch, his tea cup in hand.

"The Gaunt's house," Albus murmured, looking intrigued. "I take it you went to investigate."

Severus nodded. "It was Potter, Granger and Weasley. Dressed in matching duelling robes and with matching symbols at their throats."

"Really?" Albus said, his lips twitching with amusement. "They do seem to be getting into the spirit of the thing, don't they?" Both Severus and Aberforth gave him looks of exasperation as he continued. "Do you know what they were doing there? Obviously they did not see you; you would have undoubtedly been a little more…riled last night."

"I have no idea why they were there," Severus replied, scowling at the Headmaster's last comment. "But they did know I was there." He paused and frowned. "I believe Potter had a snake with him. It scented me even though I was hiding."

Albus looked both intrigued and worried as he looked over at his brother. "A snake? Interesting. I believe that is a question best left for you to obtain the answer, Abe." He turned back to Severus, his expression settling completely into worried. "What happened, Severus?"

"Nothing," Severus replied bluntly. "I decided it was best not to respond in any way to the boy's provocation."

Albus sighed. "And I daresay he tried very hard to provoke."

Severus sneered. "Yes, your Golden Boy tried to provoke me in his childish way."

"He has cause," Abe said sharply. "He thinks you killed Albus. And you've been treating him unfairly for years."

"I am aware of that and there were reasons behind everything I did," Severus replied equally sharply.

"Enough!" Albus said firmly. "Severus? Do you intend to tell Voldemort what you saw?"

Severus shook his head. "No. It might alert him to the fact that Potter is aware of the existence of the Horcruxes."

"He's not aware of Albus and Harry's little trip?" Abe asked.

"No," Severus replied. "He has not checked on any of his Horcruxes since they were hidden. He trusts in the protections and does not wish to draw attention to the hiding places by potentially being seen."

"Then I take it he also doesn't know when they've been destroyed," Abe said.

"No," Severus replied. The next was said carefully. "While I am sure he does not know of the destruction of the ring, I merely _suspect_ that he does not know of the destruction of the diary."

"What?" Albus said sharply. "Lucius did not tell him?"

"From what little the Dark Lord has said on the matter, I gather he is not aware that Lucius possessed the diary," Severus replied. "And Lucius would not admit to a _failed_ attempt at disrupting matters. How much the Dark Lord knows of what happened that year is unknown but certainly he has made no mention to me that he is missing a Horcrux." Severus glanced at the Headmaster's still injured hand; he'd yet to find any solution to _that_ problem. "Missing two for that matter. He has always spoken of having _six_ Horcruxes and that he has only created _one_ since his return, that being Nagini."

"Good," Albus said with deep satisfaction. "Let us hope he remains ignorant on that score for some time to come."

Severus and Aberforth nodded in agreement.

"Now Severus, could I prevail upon you to show me your memory of your run in with Harry and his friends?" Albus asked, waving his hand towards a large, empty pensieve that was sitting on a table in the corner of the room.

Severus nodded and stood, walking briskly over to the marble bowl. He paused for a moment then pulled his wand out and gently drew the memory out, placing it into the pensieve. Albus and Aberforth joined him and the three of them plunged into the memory. They chose a place halfway between the three students and the hidden Severus and watched the drama play itself out until the trio disappeared.

The Headmaster was silent until Severus reclaimed his memory and the three of them were seated once again.

"I must commend you on your restraint, Severus," Albus said thoughtfully. "Harry was quite angry and very thoughtless. I had hoped the two of you might move past this animosity…" He sighed and waved his hand. "Well, nevermind that for now. Did you see the snake wrapped around his wrist?"

Abe nodded. "Mmm, an adder of some kind."

Albus nodded. "And oddly familiar. I believe Harry and I have seen that snake before in another man's memories. Curious that it survived so long. I believe that snake once belonged to Morfin Gaunt."

Suddenly Abe chuckled and the other two men looked at him curiously.

"Moody's going to be mightily unimpressed with young Harry," he said in response to their curious glances. "He's been quite serious about their training and I've no doubts he's going to want to do a full debriefing this morning. Pity I'm not there. Between _Harry's_ temper and _Moody's_ temper, it should be quite the showdown."

Albus chuckled while Severus sneered.

"And who do you think will win?" Albus asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Moody," Abe said decisively. "His is the voice of experience after all."

"What is the meaning of the symbol at their throats?" Severus asked Abe curiously.

"Trinity," Abe replied. "They decided that since Albus is dead they needed to give Voldemort something else to fear. They thought the Trinity would do nicely."

Severus sneered though there was a certain amount of interest and perhaps even respect in his eyes. "The Dark Lord already hates and fears Potter," he said sourly.

"Ah but this is not designed to make Voldemort fear _Harry_ per se," Dumbledore said wisely. "They wish to make him fear the _Trinity_. Harry, Ron, Hermione."

Severus looked dubious but nodded anyway.

"When do you have to return to him?" Albus asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Tonight," Severus replied with a sigh. "The potion I gave Nagini last night should be showing some signs by then. This potion will induce some slight improvement before sending her into a gradual decline."

"And what price will you pay when she dies?" Abe asked bluntly.

"Nothing that I am not prepared for," Severus replied flatly.

Abe grunted, concern flashing in his eyes, before pushing himself to his feet and heading upstairs without another word.

Harry spent the morning in his room but retreated up to the attic when he heard people moving around downstairs at lunchtime. It was Dobby who brought him his lunch and returned for the dishes but the little house elf was uncharacteristically quiet. Harry wondered why but suspected Dobby had been warned not to bother him today.

His thoughts kept going round and round in his mind but always seemed to come back to the same conclusions. Moody was right. He _had_ been reckless. He _had_ endangered not only himself but his friends. And he _did_ have a problem with his temper. In the cold light of day he was even feeling a tiny bit ashamed to have used that horrible nickname that his father and godfather had invented. His thoughts might have continued to spiral downwards if two warm bodies hadn't sat down on either side of him.

"We weren't in that much danger," Ron said casually.

"Mmm," Hermione agreed. "If Snape was going to hex us, he'd have done it from the start. I wonder why he didn't."

Ron groaned comically, drawing Harry out of his introspection. "You're not going to start _that_ again, are you?"

"Start what?" Hermione said tartly, folding her arms across her chest.

"The whole _odd_ thing you had going last night," Ron replied.

Harry looked between the two of them, the strange conversation having successfully distracted him. "What odd thing?" he asked in a baffled tone. Then he blinked. "Why are you having odd conversations?"

Ron snickered as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I just mentioned to Ron that I thought it was odd that Dumbledore pleaded with Snape," she said in a long-suffering tone and with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But it _is_ odd that Snape wouldn't take the chance to attack you, Harry. I mean you did give him ample opportunity."

Harry groaned. "If you two have come up here to give me yet another lecture, you can go back downstairs right now," he said firmly.

"Come on, mate. Would we do that?" Ron asked lazily.

Harry was silent for a long moment. "Do I have to answer that question? Ow!" He grabbed his arm where Hermione had smacked it and swallowed a smile. "Hey! That hurt!"

"Serves you right," Hermione said tartly. "And no, we did not come up here to lecture you. We came up to make sure you were alright."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I guess I am. I just…I don't know." He sighed again. "I owe him an apology, don't I?"

"He…_was_…right," Hermione said tentatively.

"You've got to remember there's a bigger picture, Harry," Ron said equally tentatively. "We've got to get the Horcruxes and destroy them then destroy Voldemort. If we get Snape along the way then that's good but if we don't, we don't." He paused and shrugged his shoulders. "We can always get him later. It's not like there's not going to be people out after his blood after all."

"The Order will take care of him if nothing else," Hermione added.

Harry drew in a deep breath then let it out gustily. "I know and…you're right. I'm sorry. I guess I just lost my mind a bit out there last night."

"You had good cause but you've _got_ to learn to control your temper," Hermione said. "I suspect Moody could give you a few tips going on what he said to us today."

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"He kind of implied that _he'd_ had problem with his temper when he was younger as well," Hermione said.

"Is he still here?" Harry asked.

Ron shook his head. "Nah, he left about half an hour ago."

"I'll speak to him tomorrow morning then," Harry said almost grimly.

"Don't take long," Ron warned. "The wedding's tomorrow afternoon. We've got to be back at the Burrow by eleven."

Harry groaned. "I'd almost forgotten. So how many Aurors are going to be there for this thing?"

"Most of them to hear Tonks tell it," Ron said with a grin. "And the place is warded to a fare-thee-well. Dad, Kingsley, Remus and Tonks have spent most of the week there putting them up."

"Does Ginny like her dress? She was rolling her eyes about it last week," Harry said as the atmosphere calmed around the three friends.

"I think she's complaining just for the sake of complaining," Hermione said with a smile. "She looks beautiful in it. So does Gabrielle for that matter."

"Where are Fleur's family staying?" Harry asked.

"Hogwarts," Hermione replied. "Minerva offered since none of the students are there." She paused and shook her head. "Does it feel strange to you to call our teachers by their first name?"

"A bit," Harry replied with a grin. "Better not get used to it. We won't be able to call them by name during class."

"Remus wouldn't mind," Ron said.

"Probably not but Minerva would," Harry said. "Can you imagine her reaction?"

Both Ron and Hermione blanched a little at that then Hermione got briskly to her feet.

"Come on," she said to the two boys. "It's not that long until dinner. Mrs Weasley won't be happy if we're late."

The two boys grumbled and nodded but got to their feet and the trio headed downstairs.

The next morning Harry was up early and was the first downstairs. He pulled himself up on one of the tables to wait for Moody and tried to get his nerves under control. In spite of Ron and Hermione's assurances that the ex-Auror was not angry with him, he wasn't feeling very confident about this. His head jerked up when he heard Moody's distinctive thumping footsteps coming down the stairs and he jumped off the table and fidgeted slightly as he waited.

The door opened at the grizzled ex-Auror stumped into the room, one eyebrow going up when he saw Harry waiting for him.

"Potter," he growled in greeting.

Harry licked his lips nervously. "Professor Moody, I'd…like to apologise for what I said to you yesterday. I was wrong and I should never have spoken to you like that. You're right, I do need to learn how to control my temper."

Moody stared at him for a moment then gave a bark of laughter. "Apology accepted, Potter. I see I was right about you. You are a damned sight smarter than I was."

"Huh?" Harry said, a little startled that he seemed to have gotten off so lightly.

"You're hardly the first person to go off at their trainer like that, Potter," Moody said with amusement. "I did the same thing when I was a touch older than you. Took me three days to come to my senses."

"Well, I…a few people _did_ speak to me," Harry admitted.

"A few people spoke to me," Moody countered. "I didn't listen to my advisors. Looks like you did." He chuckled again. "I'm not angry at you for what you said, Potter. One of the hardest things we can ever face is our own flaws. Admitting they exist is never easy but it's the first step towards overcoming them. You've got a problem reigning in your temper at times. But that can be overcome. I did it and so will you."

Harry nodded. "How?"

"By trying to provoke you during our training," Moody explained. "While losing control here has its dangers, it's nothing like the price you can pay in the field. So, I provoke you here and you learn to ignore it." Moody paused and looked sharply at Harry. "You've got to remember they're just _words_. Words can only hurt you if _you_ let 'em. Snape calls you an arrogant brat, so what? _You_ know you're not, you're friends know you're not and that's all that matters."

Harry nodded as Moody continued.

"You're angry at Snape for what he did and you want him dead," Moody growled. "Well, join the club. There's not a single member of the Order and hell of a lot of people outside the Order who wouldn't hesitate to strike the man down at first sight. What you've got to learn is whether it's the right time for _you_ to strike. You've got a priority. Voldemort. You've got to learn how to calculate whether it's even worth going after Snape or whether doing that is just going to get you into trouble. Ultimately, and at its most objective, Snape is just a sideline for you. Leave him to the Order. Concentrate on your priority."

Harry sighed and his shoulders sag. "I guess you're right," he said slowly. "It's just…I was _there_."

Moody's expression became regretful. "I know, Potter…Harry. It was a hell of a thing for you to go through and I wish you hadn't had to. Hell, I wish it really had been me there in your Fourth Year. You shouldn't have had to go through _that_ either. But you've come through both well; stronger too, I think."

Harry shrugged one shoulder. "It doesn't feel like it sometimes."

"It shows though," Moody said as the door opened again to admit Ron and Hermione. The two teens looked between Moody and Harry and the ex-Auror chuckled. "I haven't eaten him. Come on. I want to get as much done as I can before we all have to head off for the wedding. Get moving."

The trio rolled their eyes and started their morning ritual of stretching and running. Once that was done, Moody motioned for them to join him around one of the table where he had a map of the Little Hangleton area and he had them run through what happened at the house. He picked apart what they did and what they could have done. It wasn't a difficult task until they got to the moment when they left the house.

"How did Snape know you were there?" Moody asked.

"I'd say he saw the light from our wands," Harry said. "But how can we avoid that?"

Moody glanced at the three teens and raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting one of them to know the answer.

"Aren't there spells that can stop light escaping from a particular area?" Hermione said with a frown. "I'm sure I've read about them but I don't think there was an incantation included."

"There wouldn't have been," Moody replied. "And you're right, by the way. The knowledge of that spell is kept as quiet as possible for obvious reasons. I'll teach it to you within the next week."

The debriefing continued with Moody giving a harsh critique of their performance, particularly Harry's effort, and prodding them into coming with ideas of how they could have done better.

"We should have just used the portkey from inside the house, shouldn't we?" Ron suggested with chagrin.

Moody chuckled and nodded. "Got in one, Weasley. There were no wards on the house to prevent that. You always take the easiest option when getting the hell out of somewhere. You should have just activated the portkey from the bedroom."

The three teens exchanged chagrined looks.

"I didn't even _think_ of that," Harry muttered.

"Neither did I," Hermione admitted reluctantly.

"Don't kick yourselves too hard," Moody advised. "Half the reason I let you go on this mission is because it was very low risk. It was really an ideal training mission. I didn't quite expect Snape to show up but he did prove useful since it seems he wasn't in the mood for a fight."

Hermione blinked. "Maybe he wasn't in any condition for a fight?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked then realisation hit him. "Oh, of course! He was probably coming from Riddle Manor which means there may have been some kind of meeting. He might have been hurt already."

Moody nodded. "Good. I was waiting to see if you would think of that. I doubt it was a full meeting. More Death Eaters would have seen you lot. Abe told us that Snape is now Voldemort's right hand man. It was probably a private meeting and likely he either said something wrong or didn't deliver what he was meant to. Snape being injured in some way is the most likely explanation for his restraint."

Moody then folded the map up and looked at Harry.

"Now, once we've got your temper under control, what was your next objective going to be?" he asked.

Harry leaned on the table and sighed. "I want to work some more on the proto-Horcrux and the locket. We've got the finish deciphering the Headmaster's notes and I'd like to make an attempt at the destroying the locket Horcrux before we go back to school." He looked over at Hermione. "How likely is that?"

Hermione thought for a moment. "Bill's given me a whole lot of his notes on warding and protective spell. I wanted to go through them as well before we start. Remus was going to help me examine the proto-Horcrux." She bit her lip. "I think we _might_ be able to make an attempt at the locket in the week before we go back to school."

"Good," Harry said as he settled himself a little more firmly against the table. "The biggest problem we face is _finding_ the damn things. We know Nagini is probably in Riddle Manor which puts her off limits for the moment. But I don't where the others are."

"Didn't you say something about thinking that the memories that Professor Dumbledore showed you were important for more than just learning about Voldemort?" Ron asked. "That you thought they might show you where the Horcruxes are hidden?"

Harry nodded. "So?"

"What the orphanage?" Ron suggested. "Voldemort didn't _like_ the place but it was fairly important to him. He grew up there and he did go back there every summer. Do you know where it is?"

"London, somewhere," Harry replied. "But I didn't recognise the street."

"Put your memory in the pensieve when we get back from the wedding," Moody suggested. "I'll have a look and get some people on to finding the place."

Harry thought for a moment. "Hermione, we also need to find some way of identifying the Horcrux because I don't know what the Ravenclaw artefact is." Hermione nodded as Harry continued. "But the orphanage might be a good place to go looking."

"Well done, Weasley," Moody said approvingly causing Ron's ears to go red.

Harry opened his mouth to say something then he paused as something occurred to him. "I wonder…" His voice trailed off.

"Harry?" Hermione said with concern.

"How difficult would it be to find someone who was at the orphanage?" Harry asked.

"They'd have records of all of the children who stayed there and where they went if adopted," Hermione said. "It may not be _easy_ to track them down but it would be possible. Why?"

"I just wonder whether it would be worth talking to some of the children who were there with Voldemort," Harry said thoughtfully. "Maybe they could shed some light on other places he might have considered important when he was younger."

"Do you have any names?" Hermione asked. "It would be easier if we had somewhere concrete to start."

Harry nodded. "There were three children who had been directly affected by Voldemort when they were all children. They might be able to shed some light. There was a Billy Stubbs whose rabbit was killed by Voldemort. Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop. Voldemort did…_something_ to them in that cave. The matron at the orphanage said they were never quite right after they came out of that cave."

Moody had been scrawling the names down on a piece of parchment. He walked over to the table which held the Headmaster's pensieve and tucked the parchment half under it.

"We'll get some people onto that," he growled as he glanced up at the clock on one wall. "It may be a dead end but it's worth checking out. Now get out of here. We've got a wedding to get ready for."

The three teens laughed and headed upstairs to get changed with Moody on their heels.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

When the teens came downstairs in their dress robes they found Moody, Remus and Tonks waiting for them. The rest of the Weasleys had gone back to the Burrow the previous evening. The three adults were also wearing dress robes. Remus' were clearly new and Tonks' hair was a shade of red that made her look like a Weasley as well. She grinned at Ron when he chortled at her hair and everyone else grinned as well. Then Remus held out the jar holding the floo powder and one by one they travelled through to the Burrow.

Mrs Weasley was waiting for them when they stepped out into the living room and she whipped out her wand and cleaned the soot off their robes. She then looked them over critically.

"Well, you all look wonderful," she said with satisfaction.

"Mum!" Ginny came thundering down the stairs, interrupting Mrs Weasley.

Harry's jaw dropped as his girlfriend ran into the room in her pale gold robes, looking frantic and holding what looked like a circlet of white flowers in one hand and a brush in the other. Her hair was loose around her shoulders.

"Gabrielle and I can't get the charm to work and the hairdresser is still in with Fleur," Ginny wailed.

"Wow, Ginny," Harry breathed.

Ginny glanced over him briefly then returned to look at him better when his slightly stunned expression caught her attention. She blushed at the open admiration on his face. Mrs Weasley viewed them both with pleased amusement then chivvied Ginny back up the stairs.

"Come on, dear," she said briskly. "I know the spell. We're running out of time."

Harry watched Ginny walk up the stairs then jumped when Ron poked him in the ribs. "Wha?"

"Harry, mate, she's my _sister_!" Ron said with a pained expression as Hermione giggled and the adults smothered their smiles.

"Uh, yeah," Harry stammered, pulling himself together a bit.

"There must be something about the Potter men and red haired women," Remus said roguishly as he gestured for everyone to head outside. "That was a very strange piece of déjà vu. Except in James' case it was the Yule Ball that was held in our Seventh Year."

"You didn't do the same with your date?" Tonks asked mischievously as they walked through the kitchen.

"Er, well, Mariah Davies was very pretty but we were only friends rather than boyfriend and girlfriend like James and Lily," Remus replied with a slight blush. "She didn't know about my, er…"

"Furry little problem?" Harry offered with a grin.

Remus laughed. "Yes, that."

Just then Charlie descended on them with a look of desperation on his face. He quickly introduced them to Fleur's parents and Harry spent much of the rest of the time before the wedding began making small talk with the French couple who seemed to be very pleased to meet him. This made him uncomfortable until he worked out that it had more to do with his actions during the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament than him being the Boy-Who-Lived. Finally Monsieur Delacour disappeared inside and Mr and Mrs Weasley emerged and everyone began shuffling into their seats. Bill, Charlie and Mark, a friend on Bill's from Gringotts, took their places under the ivy-laced arbour and Bill stared nervously over towards the house, much to the amusement of his groomsmen.

Mr Weasley, who was standing by the back door, glanced inside then waved his wand and the traditional Bridal March started playing. The door to the house opened and first Gabrielle then Ginny walked out. Harry's jaw dropped slightly at the sight of his girlfriend. Mrs Weasley had obviously managed the charm for their hair and both girls had their hair arranged artfully with loose tendrils curling down their necks. He didn't even glance at Gabrielle as she walked past. Ginny's eyes flickered over at him as she got nearer and she suddenly struggled to swallow a fit of the giggles at his slightly stunned expression.

Then all eyes centred on the door where Fleur stood arm in arm with her father. She paused there momentarily to allow everyone to admire her then she and her father began a slow regal walk down the aisle. Harry's eyes lingered momentarily on the half-veela woman then they drifted back to Ginny. He didn't know much about fashion but he had to admit that the pale gold robes she was wearing were stunning and she looked beautiful.

He brought his attention back to the ceremony when Hermione elbowed him in the side and paid dutiful attention as Bill and Fleur were duly married. Then everyone headed over to where tables had been set up for the reception while the bridal party had their photos taken by a small man who bore a startling resemblance to the Creevey brothers. Harry found himself seated at a table with Ron and Hermione, Remus and Tonks, Fred and George, Fleur's Uncle Etienne and Aunt Suzette and a woman named Amanda who turned out to be Mark's fiancé.

Harry was a bit nervous about the three strangers on the table but after Etienne had told three terribly bad jokes in his haughty French accent, his eyes twinkling madly at the incongruity, he settled down a bit. As it turned out, he ended up having an extremely good time. Not was the food excellent but Fred and George were in a good mood and behaving themselves and Amanda, Etienne and Suzette turned out to be good and rather funny company. None of them batted an eyelid when he introduced himself and the only reaction he got was from the French couple and again that was due to his actions in the Second Task and not his unfortunate status in the wizarding world.

Finally Charlie stood up and tapped his glass. The guests slowly fell into silence and Charlie cleared his throat.

"Well, as best man it falls upon me to make the first speech," he said with an easy grin. "Now apparently I'm supposed to make all sorts of embarrassing remarks about the groom for the amusement of the crowd." Laughter rippled across through the tables. "But since I'm his brother that seemed too easy. Bill's the first in the family to get married which I suppose makes some sense since he's the oldest. I'm just not sure why it's taken him so long though I suppose if he'd met Fleur five years ago he might have got into trouble and Monsieur Delacour might have come after him with some interesting French hexes."

Everyone laughed as they did the mental maths in their minds, Monsieur Delacour most of all.

"Either way, he's taken a bit of pressure off the rest of us," Charlie continued. "Mum's been waiting for her first wedding though I suppose the danger is that she's now got a taste for them and we're all in trouble."

The laughter welled again as Mrs Weasley shook her finger at her son with a look of amused scolding.

Charlie grinned at his mother before continuing. "I welcome Fleur into the family and congratulate her on capturing my errant brother. I'm sure the hunt was fun for her and she cornered her prey exceptionally well." He turned to grin at Fleur who was laughing merrily then looked over at his grinning brother. "And Bill…it's about time you settled down. You've been giving us Weasley men a bad name. You now have a duty to become terribly eccentric, infernally cheerful and produce so many children that people start wondering about your sanity."

Everyone laughed again and this time it was Mr Weasley who shook an amused finger at Charlie.

Charlie grinned at his father before looking out over the crowd. "Although I'd say the Hogwarts teachers will be hoping you don't fulfil that last one."

A ringing "Hear, hear!" came from the table that held the Hogwarts contingent provoking even more laughter.

"I'd also like to remind everyone to admire and complement the bridesmaids," Charlie continued with a bow to Ginny and Gabrielle. "And may I say that both young ladies look absolutely stunning. Though everyone would do well to remember that Ginny has _six_ brothers and a father in attendance and Gabrielle has six new brothers-in-law, one father and a new father-in-law watching over her so try any funny business and the result is your own fault."

Both girls poked their tongues out at Charlie and made a couple of comments much to the amusement of the guests and he pretended to hide from them.

Charlie sobered slightly as he continued. "I urge you all to enjoy yourselves here today. Merlin knows the world is a grim place at the moment but we can't let that sort of thing stop us from having fun at events like this. So now that I have rambled my way to the end of this speech, I will allow my brother to have the right of reply then we can all get on with the more important stuff…displaying our complete ineptitude on the dance floor. But before I do, I'd like you all to charge your glasses and stand." There was a minute or two of murmuring and rustling as people stood, glasses in hand then Charlie picked up his own glass and raised it in the direction Bill and Fleur. "I give you a toast. To the bride and groom."

"The bride and groom!" came the cheerful response and glasses were drained.

Charlie sat down to a round of enthusiastic applause and laughter as Bill rose to his feet. He waited for a minute or two for silence to fall then he looked around, his scarred face looking cheerful and proud.

"Well, thank you Charlie for that edifying and entertaining speech," he began. "I can see making you my best man wasn't the worst decision I've ever made." Chuckles rang through the crowd as Bill continued. "Meeting Fleur has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have Harry and the Triwizard Tournament to thank for that. If Harry hadn't been involved I wouldn't have had a vested interest in going along to see my honourary little brother compete and I probably wouldn't have met Fleur. So thanks, Harry!"

Bill looked around until he found Harry and raised his glass in salute and grinned. Harry blushed and smiled back; warmed beyond belief at Bill's public declaration of his status amongst the Weasleys. It also did him a world of good to be reminded that it wasn't just bad things that had resulted from that Tournament.

"I hope I'm setting a good example for my brothers and sister," Bill continued. "And that I start something of a chain reaction. Mum will be pleased if that happens. I hope out high hopes for Ron, Percy and Ginny but Charlie has me worried and I think Fred and George are a lost cause."

Cat calls rang out from the twins as Harry looked around in surprise. He caught sight of Percy on a nearby table. The estranged Weasley was sitting next to Penelope Clearwater and had a small smile on his face as he looked over at his brother. Percy seemed to feel his regard and he looked around and caught Harry's gaze. He seemed to flinch slightly then he quickly averted his eyes before returning to stare resolutely at his eldest brother. Harry stared at him for a moment longer before following suit.

"To Monsieur and Madame Delacour, I promise to look after Fleur and love and cherish her with all my heart," Bill continued. "Though I honestly think she's more likely to spend her time looking after me. I seem to have got things off to a rather inauspicious start." He gestured at his face and some nervous chuckles ran through the crowd. "Fleur however assures me that her beauty will be enough for both of us and I have to say she's quite likely right." He beamed down at his new wife and more genuine laughter rippled through the crowd. "I want to thank you all for coming today. As Charlie said, these are grim times and that makes it all the more important that days like today happen. In grim times, laughter, love, happiness and good friendship are vital. So I'd like you all to enjoy the good food, the good drink and the excellent fellowship. Have fun, dance badly and otherwise have a rollicking good time!"

Cheers greeted Bill's speech and glasses were again filled and raised to the newly-married couple. When it became clear that no more speeches were in the offing, Mr Weasley gestured to someone over to one side of the gathering and a small band trooped out and set up to one side of the open area that had been magically paved and declared the dance floor. The band struck up a traditional waltz and Bill held out his hand to his wife. Fleur smiled and the two of them made their way out onto the dance floor, joined shortly afterwards by Charlie and Gabrielle and Mark and Ginny. Slowly other couples began to join them and Harry soon found himself sitting at his table with only Amanda.

He looked over at her and smiled wryly. "Would you like to dance? I warn you, I'm a terrible dancer."

"So am I," Amanda replied cheerfully. "So let's go see how many times we can step on each other's toes."

Harry laughed and held out a hand to the older woman. They walked onto the dance floor and, after a few awkward moments, proceeded to attempt to maim each other's feet. After a few minutes of this, some of which was accidental, some deliberate, they realised that Mark and Ginny had made their way across the dance floor to them.

"Shall we swap partners?" Mark suggested to Harry with a grin.

Harry returned the grin and nodded and Amanda and Ginny willingly swapped places.

"You know I'm a terrible dancer?" Harry said idly to Ginny as Mark and Amanda danced away.

Ginny raised an eyebrow and inclined her head in the direction of Fred and George who were dancing wildly, something that seemed rather inappropriate since they were still supposed to be waltzing with their partners.

"You were saying?" she said.

"Well, okay, I'm not that bad," Harry replied with a laugh.

Suddenly there was a low booming sound and the air above them seemed to shudder slightly. A sudden silence fell until Mr Weasley gestured angrily at the band. They slowly started playing again, nervous looks on their faces. Mr Weasley then gestured to Moody, Kingsley, Remus, Tonks and several of the Aurors who were dotted through the crowd. The adults nodded in return then started to slip through the nervous crowd and Harry quickly caught Ron and Hermione's eye, giving a sharp jerk of his head in the direction the adults had taken.

He looked down at Ginny. "I've…"

"Got to go," she completed for him, an understanding look on her face.

Harry nodded awkwardly then he collected Ron and Hermione with a glance and they headed around the front of the house. The moment they were out of sight of the guests, Harry pulled his wand out of his robes, Ron and Hermione following suit. As they rounded the corner of the house, they found the adults standing over near the front gate and they quickly joined them.

"What happened?" Harry asked firmly. He knew this would be the first test of his authority as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix and he had to make sure they would respect him.

Mr Weasley looked up at him and frowned. "Oh, Harry. There was no need for you…"

"Arthur," Harry interrupted in a stern voice. He almost unconsciously drew himself to his full height, his expression calm but stern. He didn't see Ron and Hermione move up to flank him in firm supporting positions. "What happened?"

Mr Weasley blinked at both the tone of voice and the use of his given name then it suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't being asked a question by his youngest son's best friend; he was being asked a question by the leader of the Order of the Phoenix.

"It looks like someone tested the wards," he said over the startled protests on a couple of the Aurors. Those protests were swiftly silenced by Moody and Kingsley. "From the feel of it, they made a decent attempt to bring down the wards but failed. We've been strengthening them considerably over the last two weeks. It would take a full attack by You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters to bring them down right now."

"I take it whoever did this didn't stick around," Harry said.

"No," Moody growled. "There are signs of an apparition outside the wards but nothing more."

"Was this a serious attack?" Harry asked. "Or was it just something designed to frighten us?"

"I'd put a vote in for it being an attempt to frighten us," Tonks said. "It looks like it was only one person and they only made the wards alert us rather than put them under any particular strain."

Harry walked forward until he could feel the wards buzzing in front of him. He looked around then turned and nodded.

"Well, there's no point hanging around here then," he said firmly. "All we'll do is make the guests nervous."

Low chuckles came from the others and they all sheathed their wand and started walking back towards the party. A sudden low growl from behind them made them stop and turn around. Standing in the middle of the path leading away from the Burrow was a large grey wolf. Flanking and behind this wolf were at least a dozen other wolves.

"I guess we should have known it wouldn't be that easy," Ron said warily as everyone pulled their wands out.

Suddenly Remus let out a vicious oath and reeled backwards. Tonks caught his arm and held him upright.

"Remus?" she asked with alarm.

Remus didn't answer; his eyes were trained on the large grey wolf standing at the front of the growling pack. Harry eyed the older man with concern and walked over to him, placing a hand on his arm.

"Remus? What's wrong?" he asked urgently. "Do you know that wolf?" He gave a sudden jerk and whipped around to look at the grey wolf. "Oh shit! It's Greyback, isn't it? What's happened to him?"

Remus stared at the wolf in shock for a moment longer then his gaze stuttered over to Harry. "I…yes…yes, it's Greyback. I'd…heard of this but…"

His voice trailed off as the grey wolf started to stalk towards the edge of the wards, the other wolves following him. The growling became louder and more vicious. Harry paused then made a swift decision.

"Tonks! Take Remus back around to the party then come back," he ordered.

The two of them stared at him in surprise and he levelled a glare at them both. "Move!" he barked.

Tonks jumped slightly then she grabbed the still-shocked Remus by the arm and dragged him towards the rear of the house.

Harry didn't watch them go. Instead he turned to Mr Weasley. "Could they get through those wards?"

"I shouldn't think so," Mr Weasley replied, eying the wolf warily.

As they watched Greyback barked at one of the other wolves. The wolf stepped back slightly then leapt at the wards. Everyone flinched backwards as the wolf impacted with the wards. It didn't get through but the wards sparked and they all felt them go into alert. The wolf landed on the ground outside the wards with a whimpering yelp then climbed to its feet unsteadily, staggering away.

As they watched Greyback stepped up and sniffed at the wards then he looked past them towards where the party was continuing. Harry watched him for a moment then yelped.

"We've got to get rid of them now," he said sharply. "We can't let them work their way around the wards to the party. Hermione, go and get Fred and George, Charlie, the teachers and anyone else you think looks like they could be useful."

Hermione nodded and sprinted off towards the rear of the house, passing the returning Tonks on her way.

"Can we go through the wards?" Harry asked Mr Weasley.

The older man nodded. "The invitations included a spell that keyed each guest to the wards. We are the only ones who can pass through."

"Good," Harry said flatly, keeping a wary eye on Greyback who was standing and watching him with a vicious light in his eyes. "We've got to keep them busy until help arrives. Arthur, I want you and Alastor to keep the wolves _here_. Don't let them past you. Ron, Kingsley, Tonks, all of you Aurors, concentrate on subduing them. Only kill them if you have to. I think we need to understand what's happened here. And for Merlin's sake, don't let them bite you."

Everyone nodded then at Harry's signal they burst through the wards. The wolves, all except Greyback, had been circling, waiting for an order from their leader. At the sudden charge, that order came. Grey back barked once and the wolves whirled and launched themselves at the wizards and witches. Spells and hexes flew and a good half dozen of the wolves went down, yelping and whining, in that first sally. The rest kept going however leaping at the humans and snarling savagely. Harry was initially surprised when none of the wolves came at him then a low, rumbling growl alerted him to the danger. Greyback had marked him as the leader and was now approaching at a slow stalk.

Harry levelled his wand at the enormous wolf. "Stupefy!" he said firmly.

A bolt of red light burst from the end of Harry's wand and impacted with the grey wolf. The wolf staggered momentarily then kept prowling towards him.

Harry grimaced then gathered his will and power together. "STUPEFY!" he yelled.

Again a red bolt of light emerged from the end of his wand but this one did not hit the wolf. The moment he had uttered the words, Greyback had dodged to the right then launched himself into the air straight at Harry. He hit with enormous force and both of them flew backwards. Greyback's momentum carried him off Harry and the young wizard was quick to roll away and leap to his feet, whirling to face the grey wolf, gasping a little at the bruises he'd just been gifted with. The wolf scrabbled to his feet and launched himself at Harry again.

"Impendimenta!" Harry yelled hastily.

Greyback was knocked off his feet by the force of the spell and Harry risked a quick look over his shoulder towards the house. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw a large number of witches and wizards pounding towards them, Hermione in the lead. Movement out of the corner of his eye had him paying attention to the fight once more and when he turned he saw Greyback was just about to leap at him again.

"Petrificus totalus!" he shouted but Greyback twisted in midair and the spell flashed past him, singing some fur.

The mid air twist to his leap took Greyback past Harry but the enormous wolf was close enough to turn his head and latch onto Harry's left shoulder with his jaws. Harry gave a shout of pain as he felt the wolf's teeth rip into his shoulder and he was pulled to the ground with a thump. Greyback snarled around his mouthful of robes and flesh and began dragging his prey towards the woods.

Pain lanced through Harry from his shoulder and he could dimly hear the shouts from the others as they realised what had happened to him. He beat at the wolf's snout with his fist and wand, trying desperately to get loose. Greyback flinched and briefly let go. It was not long enough for Harry to get free. It was only long enough for Greyback to bite at him again, getting a better grip on his shoulder.

Harry shouted again as Greyback's teeth bit deep into his shoulder and he pointed his wand at the wolf as best he could and gasped out, "Sectumsempra!"

A large gash suddenly opened on the Greyback's face and the wolf let go of Harry with a pained yelp. Harry rolled away then got to his knees, his left arm hanging uselessly from his injured left shoulder. He ignored the pain and blood and the potential implications of the wound and levelled his wand at the wolf again.

"Sectumsempra," he said grimly and watched as further gashes opened up along Greyback's flanks and blood started to flow.

The grey wolf snarled and seemed about to leap at Harry again when a slightly misaimed Stupefy exploded in front of his paws. The wolf glared malevolently at Harry then barked twice. The wolves howled and the pack swiftly disappeared into the woods.

Harry watched them go then he felt a wave of dizziness flood through him. He dropped his wand on the ground and grabbed at his shoulder, feeling the blood flowing through his fingers and pain blossomed at the contact. He dimly heard someone calling his name before he slowly collapsed on his right side and then all he knew was blackness.

He came around briefly when the pain as his shoulder was jostled lanced through him and he realised that he was being carried somewhere and that there were low voices talking around him. He moaned and tried to sit up.

"Lie still, Harry," came a voice; he was fairly sure it was Tonks. Her voice sounded strained and held a hint of panic. He felt her hand in his chest, holding him steady.

"The others," he gasped out as he relaxed back into the hands of those carrying him. He briefly wondered why they weren't using magic then the thought slipped away from him.

"Everyone's fine," Tonks said with a tiny quaver in her voice. "You're the only one who got hurt."

"The wolves," Harry asked, his vision swimming and starting to blacken again.

"Gone," Tonks replied. "The whole pack ran when Greyback ran."

Harry made an inarticulate moan that turned into a strangled scream as his shoulder was jostled again. As he faded out again, he heard Tonks swearing harshly at whoever the culprit had been then he knew nothing.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Hell of an ending to a wedding."

"Has everyone gone?"

"Yes, the last of them flooed out just before I came up. Fleur's parents and aunt and uncle stayed. Fleur's mother knows a bit about healing and I gathered that Etienne and Suzette quite like Harry."

"Did Bill and Fleur get away alright?"

"Yes. They were a bit reluctant to leave until we assured them that Harry was going to be okay. I'm not sure they entirely believed us but they went. Bill's insisted I owl him as soon as I know something concrete."

"Where's Remus?"

"In the other room. Tonks is with him. He's pretty upset."

"Has Moody reported in?"

"No, not yet. It might take him a bit of time to track that pack down."

Harry moaned softly as he slowly swam towards consciousness. The voices stopped immediately at the soft sound and he felt the edge of the bed he presumed he was lying in dip slightly.

"Harry? Are you awake?" Hermione asked gently as he felt his glasses being slipped onto his face.

Harry drew in a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. The bushy-haired girl was staring down at him, her eyes full of worry and concern. He tilted his head to the side and saw that the other voices had belonged to Ron and Charlie.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked, regaining his attention.

Harry lay still for a moment to try and find an answer to that. His left shoulder felt numb and ached with a dull persistence and he felt tired and worn.

"Not that good," he murmured in answer to Hermione's question. "Shoulder hurts. Feel like crap."

Hermione reached out and grabbed something from the table beside the bed. It was vial containing a vibrant blue potion. She uncapped the vial and held it to his lips.

"Here. Swallow this. It'll help," she said, her face unreadable.

Harry grimaced but obeyed. The potion was slippery and bitter going down his throat but it acted fast and he soon felt a fair bit better.

"Alright," he said when the weary feeling started to fade. "How bad is it?"

Hermione almost flinched. "We're not…entirely sure. Remus seems to know something about this but he's very upset right now. Tonks is trying to calm him down."

Harry swallowed and tried to push himself into a sitting position. Pain lanced out from his shoulder across his chest and he gasped. Hermione made a scolding sound but helped him sit up, adjusting the pillows so that they gave him some support.

"Get him in here," Harry gasped as he tried to catch his breath and let the pain subside. "I want some answers and he seems to have them."

Charlie nodded and left the room hurriedly. Harry looked down and saw the bandage swathing his left shoulder. He grimaced and wondered just what effect the bites from Greyback would have. He didn't _feel_ that different; just rather sore and a bit shaky.

A sharp voice from the room next door drew his attention then shortly afterwards Charlie returned with a set look on his face, dragging a drawn and upset Remus by the arm. Tonks was right behind them, her face pale though there was a hint of exasperation and anger in her eyes.

"Remus," Harry said, his voice slightly raspy.

The werewolf flinched and Harry scowled.

"Stop that," he said sharply and Remus' eyes flicked up to meet his. Harry saw on odd mix of emotions in them; horror, pain, anguish and fear were mixed with worry, concern and an odd desperation.

"Sit down and tell me what's going on," Harry ordered as gently as he was able to manage. "What happened to turn Greyback into a wolf? What are the implications of that and what are the results of this bite likely to be?"

Remus shuddered but sank into the chair that Ron hauled over for him. The werewolf scrubbed his face with his hands then looked over at Harry.

"If I'm right about what was done, there shouldn't be any effects from the bite," he said hoarsely. "They should be nothing more than ordinary wolf bites."

Expressions of surprise settled on everyone's faces and Harry looked at Remus intently.

"So what has got you so upset then?" he asked gently. "What is it about what Greyback has done that has you so thrown off guard?"

"I can't believe he did that," Remus whispered. "I knew Greyback was depraved and ruthless but what he's done…" His voice trailed off.

Harry sighed and reigned in his impatience; being injured never did much for his temper. "_What has he done_?" he asked firmly.

Remus drew in a shuddering breath. "There's a spell. It's ancient and more rumour than fact…though I suppose we can say it's fact now. It's forbidden and all knowledge of it was supposed to have been destroyed. It's Blood magic of the darkest, most vile kind."

"What does it do?" Harry asked, his voice gentling again.

"It can be used on werewolves and animagi," Remus said, his voice becoming firmer as he seemed to enter a more academic zone. "It forces the change all the way through in the case of werewolves and consolidates the change in animagi."

Harry frowned. "Forces the change all the way through? What exactly do you mean?"

"If everything is done correctly the spell, in conjunction with a potion and a small ritual, forces the change all the way," Remus replied. "Instead of simply becoming a werewolf the person is forced all the way through the change. They become a wolf but a wolf with a human's intelligence. And it's permanent. There is no way of reversing the spell."

A horrified silence fell in the room.

"What else?" Harry asked with resignation.

"They also become very resilient to magic," Remus continued. "Only spells with a lot of power behind them can affect them to any great extent. And they heal quickly. Those cutting spells you threw at Greyback had an enormous amount of power behind them but he'll have healed from them by now."

Harry blinked a little; he hadn't thought the spells had _that_ much power behind them though he had tried his hardest. "Any good news?' he asked instead.

"They are actually wolves now," Remus replied. "Yes, they're intelligent, resistant to magic and have accelerated healing but they are just wolves. Silver won't affect them but their bites are no longer infectious."

"You win some, you lose some," Ron muttered. "But why would anyone do something like that to themselves? And how did Greyback find out about this spell?"

"I don't know why _anyone_ would want to do that," Remus said bitterly. "But Greyback is hardly what you would call sane. He revelled in being a werewolf. He embraced it and would have gladly turned everyone in the world into one. He _enjoyed_ being a monster."

Tonks made an angry sound and clamped a hand down on Remus' shoulder. "Don't you dare," she said fiercely. "Just because _he_ was a monster doesn't make _you_ one. The definition of a monster is in the acts they carry out. Greyback is a monster because he _acts_ like one. _You_ are a kind, caring, wonderful _man_."

Remus looked up and smiled weakly at Tonks but everyone could see the fear and hesitation in his eyes. Tonks made a sound like an angry cat and leaned down and kissed him fiercely. Remus seemed to flinch back at first then he relaxed and leaned into the kiss. Harry watched this and started to snicker. This caused Ron, Charlie and Hermione to lose their battle and they started laughing as well. Remus pulled away from Tonks and eyed them with what was almost shy amusement.

"What?" Tonks said with a grin. "Were we doing it wrong?"

Harry's snicker turned into a laugh then he gasped and grabbed at his shoulder. "Argh! Don't make me laugh. It hurts right now."

The laughter abated at this and everyone watched with concern as Harry took a deep breath. He looked up at them with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm fine," he said with exasperation. "It just jars my shoulder when I laugh. And Tonks, from my admittedly limited experience you two were doing just fine."

Tonks laughed and Remus slowly smiled.

Harry grinned back then sobered. "But Ron's question was a good one. How could Greyback have found out about that spell if it's supposed to be forbidden and lost?"

"Voldemort," Remus said simply. "If he was able to discover the means to create a Horcrux then there's no telling what other forbidden spells he found."

There were resigned sighs from the others and a few grim nods.

"Too true," Harry said with a grimace. "Greyback was a lot bigger than the others. He looked more…wolfish, if that makes any sense. I don't suppose you could hazard a guess as to why?"

"I could but remember it would only be a guess," Remus replied. "The spell is supposed to be incredibly painful and requires spilling a fair amount of blood, both for the potion and the ritual. I would speculate that attitude plays a large part in the success or otherwise of the transformation. I have no doubts Greyback would have leapt at the opportunity, embraced it wholeheartedly and ignored the pain. That could be the reason for the fact he looks and clearly is so much more formidable than the rest of the pack. There were thirteen in the pack including Greyback. I shudder to think how many didn't make it through the transformation. There is very little written about it but what there is indicates that failures end up terribly, horribly deformed. Deformed enough to kill them."

"Why would Greyback have leapt at the opportunity?" Hermione asked curiously. "If he liked to turn people into werewolves so much, why would he give that up?"

"He enjoyed that part of it certainly," Remus said with distaste. "But he enjoyed being wolf-like more than that. He revelled in the night of the full moon. He wanted to _be_ a wolf, I think. This would give him that with the added bonus of losing some of the problems of being a werewolf. No vulnerability to silver for a start. Only one painful transformation. And he would retain his intelligence in his wolf form." He paused. "I have no doubts Greyback is insane but he is also frighteningly intelligent at times."

"How many of the pack did we capture?" Harry asked.

"None," Ron replied with frustration. "The spells wore off too quickly and we were fighting too many. They took off pretty quickly when Greyback ran but they managed to dodge our spells."

"So the pack's still out there," Harry said slowly.

"Along with whatever werewolves that did not attempt the spell," Remus added.

Harry thought for a moment, shifting slightly to ease the ache in his shoulder. "Remus," he said hesitantly then couldn't continue.

Remus smiled in understanding. "You want me to go back and find out how many are left and see if I can talk them round."

Harry swallowed hard, feeling suddenly very trapped. "Yes," he said reluctantly.

"I'll do it," Remus said gently. "Harry, it's alright. Part of the reason I failed before is because Fenrir Greyback had too tight a hold on them. He was very charismatic when he wanted to be. But I know many of the werewolves would likely be as disturbed as I am about what Greyback's done. I may be able to have some success this time."

Harry nodded then his gaze stuttered hesitantly up to Tonks. She looked unhappy but resigned.

"It's okay, Harry," she said when she saw he was looking at her. "I know it's important. This is a war and we have to look for every advantage we can."

She gave Remus a look that very clearly said they were going to discuss this further in private and Harry relaxed a little. He wondered whether the Headmaster had ever felt like this when he sent people out to carry out tasks. His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and Fleur's mother entering.

She smiled when she saw Harry was awake. "Ah, 'Arry," she said, her throaty voice very similar to her daughter's. "I am glad to see zat you are awake. 'Ow does your shoulder feel?"

"Sore," Harry replied as the others moved out of the way.

"Zat is to be expected," she said with blunt practicality. "Let me see eet."

The French woman unwrapped the bandages with practiced but gentle hands revealing the half-healed bite wounds. Harry winced at the sight; he'd suspected they might be bad from the pain he'd been in at the time but he hadn't quite expected this. The half-healed scars were ragged and messy. It looked like his shoulder had been _chewed_ which he supposed it had, to a certain extent.

"Are they going to scar?" he asked with as much dispassion as he could muster.

"Oui," Madame Delacour said regretfully. "But I 'ope zat zis salve will minimise ze scarring as much as possible. My 'usband was kind enough to return to our chateau to fetch eet. I 'ave had much success using eet on wounds."

Harry smiled grimly. "I hope you're right. Will my arm be affected at all?"

"Non," she replied as she began to smooth the salve over the bite marks. "You should 'ave full movement in your arm. We were able to 'eal the wounds, Poppy and I. It ees just zese scars that will remain."

"Madame Delacour? Was anyone else hurt?" Harry asked.

"You must call me Marguerite and non, no one else was 'urt," the French woman said kindly.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered asking that question when he was being carried in but hadn't been sure whether he could believe the answer he'd gotten.

"Please thank your husband for the salve as well," he said gratefully.

"Armand will be pleased," Marguerite said with a smile. "He theenks you are a very fine young man." She stood and brushed down her robes. "Now," she said briskly, "you must rest. I weel send Ginevra up to sit weeth you but everyone else must leave."

She eyed the others archly and they hastily rose and started heading for the door. It seemed that Marguerite Delacour could be just as intimidating as Molly Weasley. She watched them leave with amusement then placed the jar of salve on the table next to the bed.

"Zat must be rubbed into your shoulder every morning and evening," she instructed. "Keep using eet until ze shoulder is no longer painful."

"Thank you, Ma…Marguerite," Harry said with a genuine smile.

The French woman smiled brilliantly back at him. "Such a fine young man," she said as she turned to the door and walked out. "Ginevra will be up shortly."

Harry slumped back into his pillows and closed his eyes. While he was relieved that no one else was hurt, he was rather annoyed that he had, yet again, managed to end up hurt himself.

"Harry?" Ginny's soft voice caused his eyes to snap open.

"Hey, Ginny," he said with a lopsided smile. "You're not going to yell at me, are you?"

She gave a soft huff of exasperated laughter. "I ought to but I won't."

She came and sat down on the side of the bed and took his hand in her own. Harry's could see the worry, concern and fear that still lingered in her eyes.

"And I also know it won't do any good to yell," she said with quiet resignation. "Ron and Hermione told me that the wolf came straight at you. They seemed to think he realised you were the leader."

"Considering the wolf was Fenrir Greyback that was a pretty good assumption," Harry replied.

"Remus told me you're going to be fine," Ginny said hesitantly. "I didn't wait around for details but he said something about the bites not being infected. If that was Greuback, does that mean he was talking about lycanthropy?"

Harry nodded and pulled Ginny closer. A bit of shifting had her tucked in at his side, away from his bandaged left shoulder.

"You can get the details from Remus later but the basics are that what Greyback did has turned him into a wolf permanently but it also means he can't turn anyone else into a werewolf anymore," Harry explained. "So I've got a very nasty set of bite marks that are going to scar but other than that I'm fine."

Ginny gave him a small smile. "They say scars are sexy," she said with a hint of impishness.

"Speaking from experience, I can't say I've noticed that," Harry replied dryly, relieved to see that impishness.

Ginny looked at him with disbelief. "You're not serious, are you? Do you know how many girls wanted you to ask them to the Yule Ball a few years ago? Didn't you see all the girls lurking around hoping you'd notice them last year? Does the name Romilda Vane not ring a bell?"

Harry blushed and looked embarrassed. "Er, well…"

Ginny suddenly laughed and kissed his cheek. "That's one of the reasons I like you, Mr Potter," she said roguishly. "You're so adorably clueless."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult," Harry grumbled good-naturedly.

Ginny just laughed. "So back to more important matters, how _is_ your shoulder?"

"Sore," Harry replied. "But a lot better than it was before Marguerite treated it just before."

"Marguerite?" Ginny said curiously.

"Er, Madame Delacour," Harry clarified. "She asked me to call her Marguerite."

"I see," Ginny said archly.

Harry sighed with weary amusement. "She's a lot like her daughter, you know." He said with a hint of humour in his eyes. He paused for just long enough for Ginny to get slightly irritated then he continued. "Really ugly."

Ginny snorted with sudden laughter and gave Harry a light whack on his good shoulder. She had been so worried about Harry that it was only at this point that she realised that he wasn't wearing a shirt and she blinked. Then she blushed. Harry saw the blush and frowned until he followed Ginny's line of sight. She was staring at his chest. His _bare_ chest. Then he blushed.

Then he yawned and that seemed to break the sudden tension that had developed. Ginny seemed to give herself a small shake and she crawled off the bed.

"You should get some rest," she said firmly as though she were convincing herself as much as him.

Harry swallowed the grin that was threatening and allowed her to help him back down into a lying position.

"How long was I unconscious?" he asked as she pulled the blankets up.

"Only a few hours," Ginny replied. "Mum said we'll stay here tonight. The extra wards they put up will be good for another twenty-four hours. She didn't want to move you unless she absolutely had to."

Harry nodded as he settled into the bed, wincing as his shoulder reminded him that being used as a wolf's chew toy was not something he wanted to repeat. He hadn't thought he'd be able to get to sleep but once he was lying down, the events of the day seemed to rush up and overwhelm him and then he knew nothing.

Ginny watched him fall asleep as she sat down in the chair beside the bed. Letting Harry run off without her today had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done. She actually wanted nothing more than to stand at his side during this like Ron and Hermione were. But she knew she couldn't. She knew that Harry loved her. He had never said the words and she wasn't sure he even knew it himself but it came out in the way he treated her and what he asked of her.

That wasn't to say that he didn't love Ron and Hermione. He did. They were his best friends, even surrogate brother and sister. They were the Gryffindor Trio and now the Trinity. He loved them.

But he loved her differently. She was his girlfriend. She didn't think she was his first love. She was fairly sure Cho held that title and how _that_ thought rankled inside and made her want to claw the older girl's eyes out. But Cho hadn't lasted, had barely started for that matter. She was the one who had captured him. She was the one he kissed now. Innocent kisses mostly, only lately had they started getting decidedly more heated and she wondered after today's little display between the two of them whether she'd get more of those heated kisses. A small smile drifted across her lips. She hoped so. She liked them. But that was beside the point. _Ginny_ was the one he was so desperate to protect.

She leaned back in the chair and watched the sleeping boy. There was a large part of her that wasn't entirely comfortable with the protectiveness but she'd seen the fear that lingered in Harry's eyes when the thought of her being captured by Voldemort occurred to him. She wondered whether it was something he'd seen in those terrible visions that had him so afraid or whether it was just because he feared her dying. She shuddered lightly.

In truth it wasn't just Harry's wishes that kept her from demanding a larger role in this war. Her encounter with Tom Riddle in her First Year had never quite left her. She still woke up with terrible nightmares where Harry _didn't_ come after her and _didn't_ save her. She woke up screaming from those. Her bedroom was on the same floor as Ron and Fred and George. It had always been Ron or the twins who had come in to hold her and let her cry on their shoulder after those nightmares. Oddly enough she rarely had the nightmares at Hogwarts which had always seemed strange to her. It was odd that the place where such a terrible thing had happened also seemed to comfort her. Though it also occurred to her she had never had the nightmares when Harry was staying with her family. Perhaps it wasn't _Hogwarts_ that soothed her.

She knew her friends found it terribly _romantic_ when she and Harry were dating during the last school year. Though none of them talked about it much, the girls she shared a dorm with knew at least the bare basics of what had happened to her. Dumbledore and McGonagall had spoken to them after Harry had rescued her. The girls always teased her, mostly gently, about Harry being her knight in shining armour and most of them had scoffed with amusement when she'd dated Michael and Dean. They'd been adamant that neither of those boys would last, that Harry would finally see what was underneath his nose all along. She'd laughed at them, figuring that if he hadn't by now, it was never going to happen.

But it had. She smiled as she remembered the aftermath of the Quidditch game. That kiss had been worth waiting all those years for.

"Ginny?"

She turned to see her mother standing in the doorway, looking worried but trying to hide it.

"He's asleep," Ginny said to her mother's unspoken question.

Mrs Weasley nodded. "Oh, good." She paused and gave her only daughter a fond smile. "You looked like you were deep in thought."

Ginny smiled back wryly. "I suppose I was. I was just thinking about Harry…and me. How it was really hard to just watch him run off this afternoon and when they carried him back…" She shuddered.

"Are you going to ask if you can join them? Molly asked worriedly.

Ginny shook her head. "No. Harry wants me to be a safe as possible and that's what I plan to do. Besides, he and Ron and Hermione are eventually going to face You…_Voldemort_ and I don't want any part of that."

Molly came into the door and leaned over to hug Ginny. "I thought you'd gotten past what happened in First Year?"

"Yeah, I have…mostly," Ginny replied. "But that doesn't mean I want to be anywhere near _him_."

Molly smoothed back Ginny's hair, closing her eyes as she remembered those dreadful hours after they had been informed about Ginny being abducted. Fear that had been added to when it became clear that Ron and Harry were also missing. But she also remembered the almost euphoric delight when the two boys reappeared with a very confused Gilderoy Lockhart and a very much alive Ginny. She'd been torn between being so terribly proud of the boys and wanting to smack them very hard for frightening her like that.

"I know this probably sounds terribly selfish but I'm glad you want to stay safe," she said, her voice quavering a little.

Ginny tightened her arms around her mother. "Harry and Ron and Hermione are going to win, Mum. I _know_ it."

"I hope you're right, dear," Molly said softly then she placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead before leaving the room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The next morning Harry felt considerably better. The salve Marguerite Delacour had used had gone a long way towards healing the jagged bite marks and the French woman was pleased with what she saw when she reapplied the salve that morning. She redressed the wounds with a much lighter bandage. When she left, Ron appeared with some of Harry's clothes in his hands and he slowly began to get dressed. He winced as his shoulder complained when he tried to pull on his t-shirt and had to get Ron to help him.

Once he was dressed they headed downstairs where everyone was waiting. Mrs Weasley immediately came over to him and fussed momentarily before ushering him to the fireplace. Harry flooed back to Grimmauld Place with a sigh of relief and found Moody waiting for him.

"Potter," the ex-Auror said in greeting. "How's the shoulder?"

"Um, much better," Harry replied as he hastily skipped out of the way of the new arrivals and joined Moody at the table. "I take it you have news for me?"

Moody nodded and scratched his grey hair. "I tracked that pack as far as I could. Lost 'em about 5 miles from the Burrow. The mongrels just up and disappeared."

"How?" Harry asked and Ron and Hermione joined them at the table. The rest of the Weasleys and Remus and Tonks disappeared into the house.

"Portkey at a guess," Moody grumbled.

"They could use a portkey?" Ron said with surprise.

"Wouldn't put it past them," Moody replied. "But I suspect there may have been an accomplice waiting for them."

"So what do we do about them now?" Ron asked.

"Not much we _can_ do," Harry replied. "Except be wary when we eventually go back out on missions."

Moody grunted in agreement. "Speaking of that, you'll be off training until that shoulder is fully healed, Potter."

"Yeah, I'd kind of guessed that," Harry grumbled then he looked over at Hermione. "How are you going with deciphering Professor Dumbledore's notes?"

"Bill and I finished the other day," Hermione replied. "But I wanted to go through them again to make sure it all makes sense."

"Okay," Harry said patiently. "But you must have come to some kind of conclusion."

Hermione nodded. "I don't think it's going to be quite as difficult as we first thought to destroy the Horcruxes. Professor Dumbledore's notes indicate that he thought that the reason his hand was damaged had nothing to do with the Horcrux itself but instead was because he missed one of the protective hexes on the ring. From what he wrote, the Horcrux was the _stone_ in the ring but the protective spells and hexes were placed in the gold of the ring itself. Bill agreed with that. He said that the containment spells on the proto-Horcrux are the kind that don't take well to protective spells being layered over the top of them." She paused and tilted her head to one side. "In fact he said that containment spells in general don't handle spells being overlaid on top of them. It's not just the ones used in the Horcrux."

"Bill managed to identify the spells then?" Moody growled.

Hermione nodded. "He says there are seven containment spells layered on top of each other on the proto-Horcrux. And they're not only layered, they cascade into each other. He said that will make it both easier _and_ more difficult to remove them. Professor Dumbledore noted the same spells on the ring Horcrux so we think that the containment spells will be the same for all of them."

"Hang on a minute," Harry said with a frown. "How can it be easier _and_ more difficult to remove the spells?"

"Well, because of the way they are constructed the most powerful spell lies on the inside of the layers," Hermione explained. "It's going to require a great deal of concentration and power to get to it without disturbing the other spells and then to remove it. _But_ once it's removed, the cascading effect will take place and the others spells will collapse of their own accord. Each spell is being powered by the one below it in the layer. Remove the bottom one and the rest will follow." She paused and grimaced. "That is the other part of the problem. There is a possibility that the magic from the collapsing spells could create a small wildfire event. So the process is twofold. Remove the first containment spell then contain the collapsing spells."

"I don't suppose Bill explained how to do this?" Harry asked after a long pause.

Hermione nodded. "He left detailed instructions and also said you could contact him at anytime if you had questions."

"I wonder if Fleur knows that," Ron said with a grin.

Harry snickered then sobered. "Okay, what about the protective spells?"

"There don't seem to be any on the locket," Hermione said promptly. "Which makes sense if you think about it."

Harry blinked. "Okay," he said slowly. "How?"

"The ring was left in the Gaunts' house," Hermione explained patiently. "So it _needed_ the protections to be placed on the ring itself. The house is open and Voldemort wouldn't have wanted just anyone to be able to pick it up. Professor Dumbledore's notes say that the ring had a fairly strong notice-me-not charm on it among other things."

"Oh, I see," Harry said with understanding. "But the locket was _surrounded_ by its protections. The rock wall that required blood to open, the Inferi in the lake and the potion in the bowl."

Hermione nodded with a pleased smile. "Exactly! Obviously Voldemort didn't think it was necessary to add any further protections to the locket itself."

"You hope," Ron said emphatically.

Hermione scowled. "Neither Bill nor I could find anything other than the containment spells on either the proto-Horcrux or the locket, Ron."

Ron held up his hands in a surrendering motion as Harry and Moody laughed.

"I guess I'll spend the next couple of days reading through everything you've got then," Harry said once the laughter had died down. "I'd like to try destroying the locket Horcrux before we go back to school." He paused as he remembered something. "Oh, once the containment spells are down, how do you destroy the soul fragment?"

"Professor Dumbledore used Deletrius to destroy the soul fragment from the ring," Hermione said hesitantly.

Harry blinked. "That's _all_? That _worked_?"

"Apparently," Hermione replied with a shrug. "The only comment the Headmaster made on his choice of spell was that you have to concentrate on wanting the soul fragment to be eradicated."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Ron said after a moment.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Hermione asked archly.

"Well, Harry destroyed the diary and presumably both the containment spells _and_ the soul fragment with a Basilisk fang in the Chamber of Secrets," Ron pointed out. "I guess that means that it's not _that_ difficult to destroy one of these things no matter how difficult it is to create one."

"Ron, Basilisk venom is very powerful," Hermione objected.

Harry leaned back in his chair with a frown on his face and absently rubbed at his shoulder. "I wonder how that _did_ work," he mused. "I mean it doesn't seem like it ought to, just stabbing a diary with a Basilisk fang."

"Basilisks are magical creatures," Hermione said thoughtfully. "It would naturally follow that their venom must be magical too. Maybe the venom worked on the actual physical fabric of the diary; the paper and whatnot. The containment spells need to be tied to something physical to work. It's possible that's what the venom did; unravelled the containment spells' connection to the diary. That then left the soul fragment vulnerable to the venom as well. If the soul fragment can be destroyed by a directed Deletrius then it wouldn't stand a chance against Basilisk venom."

"Pity you didn't keep the fang," Ron said idly.

"I don't think it would work on the other Horcruxes except maybe Nagini," Harry replied dryly. "With the diary I had something to stab the fang into. Bit hard to do that with the locket or that cup of Hufflepuff's."

"Good point," Ron conceded.

"So what now?" Harry asked.

"Now _you_ go and rest," Hermione said firmly. "I will organise those notes for you and Ron…well, Ron can…"

"Ron can help me," Moody said with amusement before looking over at the mildly affronted boy. "I understand you're quite skilled at chess."

"Er, yes," Ron said with surprise.

"Good. You can start learning a bit more about strategy then," Moody said. "Then you can teach your friends. Come on."

With that the grizzled ex-Auror stood up and headed out of the kitchen. Ron gave a long-suffering sigh and followed him. Hermione swallowed a smile and headed for the library. Harry rubbed his shoulder for a moment then decided Hermione's idea was a good one.

Snape stood to the right of the Dark Lord and sneered at the pack of wolves cowering on the floor. The sneer was covering the vague horror that shivered through him when he looked upon the transformed werewolves. Fenrir had presented him with a set of instructions for a potion about a month ago. He'd been curious about the potion as he'd never seen it before but Fenrir had been frustratingly close-mouthed. The potion had only taken a week to prepare and since then Snape had spent whatever spare time he had searching for the answer. The appearance of Fenrir and his pack three days ago had answered that question in a most horrifying manner.

Severus had heard of the spell that could permanently transform an animagus or a werewolf. It had been mentioned in more than one of the Dark books he'd read without much in the way of details but the idea that someone would actually attempt it made his blood run cold. The success rate was abysmal, barely one in twenty ever succeeded and the penalty for failure was a long, slow and exceedingly painful death. Severus had no love for werewolves; his close encounter with Lupin in Sixth Year had made sure of that but even he could not imagine why anyone sane would risk the transformation.

He sneered down at the whimpering wolves again. Ah but that was the thing, wasn't it? Fenrir Greyback, even in human form, had hardly been what one would call sane. And he'd known of Severus' fear as well. The filthy werewolf had delighted in snapping at him and only Severus' wariness of the Dark Lord's wrath had stayed his hand. He knew more than one spell that would be very effective against a werewolf.

Voldemort stared down at the wolves with anger. "You failed!"

Greyback stared up at him angrily then Voldemort snarled.

"You injured Potter," he sneered. "How inventive of you. But Greyback, you did not bring him _here_! Which is what you were asked to do. _Crucio_!"

Severus winced at the sudden shrill howling that came from the entire pack. The Dark Lord had strength enough even with his injuries to do that though he wondered how the man had learnt to communicate with the wolves. He gave a small sigh of relief when the Dark Lord ended the spell and the howling stopped and then managed not to flinch when the Dark Lord whipped around and pointed his wand at him.

"Locutus mentilupus," Voldemort snapped.

A searing pain lanced through Severus' mind briefly and he gasped. Voldemort paid him no mind, merely turned back to the pack.

"You will make your way up to Hogwarts," the Dark Lord ordered. "You will create as much havoc as you can when you get there and if you get an opportunity at the Potter boy again, you will _not_ fail!" He glared at the wolves and they whined. "You will report either to myself or Severus."

_Yes, Lord._ The mental voice that rippled through Severus' mind had distinct overtones of Fenrir's normal voice and he flinched slightly.

The wolf pack turned almost as one and bounded out of the room. Voldemort turned and surveyed Severus with a wintry, dangerous smile.

"Problems, Severus?" he asked in a deceptively gentle voice.

"No, my Lord," Severus replied evenly. "Though I confess to some disquiet that that mangy hound will be able to poke around in my mind."

Voldemort chuckled. "Never fear, my clever Potions Master. The spell merely allows verbal communication, nothing more. And with your ability at Occlumency, you will have no troubles evicting him from your mind." His face hardened. "Now tell me what progress you have made in curing Nagini."

"The latest potion I have given her appears to be having some effect," Severus replied calmly. "She is certainly showing signs of improvement. However I have still been unable to identify the original poison."

Voldemort growled and stalked back and forth. "Will she survive?"

"I cannot say, my Lord," Severus replied. "But things do look promising."

Voldemort scowled, an expression which deepened when pain lanced through him from some of the injuries he had received the previous year. They had been damned slow in healing and he could only presume that this new body of his was to blame. Certainly Severus had provided him with every potion he had asked for.

"Severus, I wish for you to let yourself be seen near Hogwarts," he ordered. "If you can get into the school and create some trouble, do so. I want Potter distracted and if you can lure him out of the castle that would be ideal." The Dark Lord paused and smirked. "Take Draco with you. Let us see if he can redeem his family name. I have some ideas for a specific goal but I wish to consider which will be the most effective. I will inform you when I have decided."

Severus bowed low. "Yes, my Lord. Do you wish us to work in conjunction with Fenrir?"

"No," Voldemort replied. "They will be basing themselves in the Forest. Their targets will not only be the students but also the centaurs. You will not enter the Forest unless Fenrir contacts you. Confine your attempts to Hogsmeade, Hogwarts and the surrounds."

Severus bowed again. "Yes, my Lord."

"Go," Voldemort ordered and Severus bowed and quickly left the room.

Harry sat in the training room and looked over his copy of Hermione's notes for the last time. He'd decided that today was probably his best opportunity for making an attempt at destroying the locket Horcrux. They were due to return to Hogwarts in three days so he had some small amount of time to recover if anything went wrong and they'd done all of their shopping for the new school year two days ago. He was sure that he understood the process after several sessions with Hermione and a few questions to Bill and he'd chosen the training room because it was the most well-warded room in the place. If there _was_ a wildfire event and he lost control of it, he'd need those wards.

He shuffled the notes together and put them aside before standing and picking up the locket. He walked over to the middle of the room and placed the locket on the floor. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at the jewellery and took a deep breath. Most of what had to be done was non-verbal and required a great deal of control.

He braced himself and then spoke the keyword that would allow him to access the containment spells, "Pateocapere."

The locket shimmered briefly and Harry could sense the power of the containment spells. He took another deep breath and let it out slowly before reaching out with his magic and touching the outer layer. He let his magic rest against it until the warding layer stopped resonating then he slowly and very gently began to push at the layer of magic. Bill had indicated that there as a knack of doing this. The first step was letting the warding layer become used to your magic and then when you pushed you needed to do it slowly. If you did it right the warding layer would slowly accepted your magic. If you pushed to hard, it would throw you out and possibly hurt you, depending on what kind of ward it was. In a sense you were percolating through the ward. It took a great deal of patience and a reasonable amount of personal power. Bill had suggested that _Harry_ would able to do this but he was unsure if Ron and Hermione would be able to manage it something which hadn't pleased either of them.

He felt a small jolt as he worked his way through the warding layer and he grinned for a moment. He then sobered and began to process on the second layer. Three layers later and he was sweating profusely. He paused after the fourth layer let him through and sank down to his knees. He took several deep breaths and briefly wondered how much time had passed. He shook his head and turned back to the Horcrux and its warding layers.

When he finally reached the innermost layer he paused for several minutes. He felt tired and drained and knew he needed to rest before he tackled this containment ward. He slumped down and rubbed his shoulder. The bite marks had all healed by now and though they looked rather unsightly, his shoulder no longer actively hurt. It just ached from time to time when he was tired. He gave himself a small shake and took a deep breath before turning back to the Horcrux.

He let his magic touch the innermost containment ward and muttered, "Manifesto" while he concentrated hard on the underlying runes that anchored the warding. Bill had spent some time pontificating on the fact that higher level magic was not really any different from lower level magic, it just involved greater power and concentration. _Manifesto_ was a generic revealing spell that required mental direction for what precisely you wanted to reveal. Whether it worked or not largely depended on how much power the caster possessed and their strength of mind, very much like _Accio_ did.

As he watched a rune glowed and rose into the air. He stared at it for a moment then nodded in satisfaction when he realised it _was_ the one he was expecting. He waited for the glowing rune to fade then he touched his wand to the locket and, concentrating hard on the rune, said, "Finite Incantatem."

The glowing rune rose above the locket again then it shimmered and Harry felt his magic drain as the shimmering intensified. A high pitched whine sounded through the room then the rune burst in a fairly impressive display of magical fireworks. The moment the rune's fireworks faded Harry felt the ward collapse and just for a moment the room went quiet. A tense, almost pregnant, feeling flooded through the room and Harry braced himself, casting the shielding spells Bill had taught him around the Horcrux and himself.

The cascade effect began like a wave building and then crashing on the shore. Without the support of the innermost containment ward, the second ward collapsed, triggering the rest of the cascade. Within seconds, Harry knew what Hermione and Bill meant by a wildfire event. The magic being released by the collapsing wards was immense and it while most of it was being swallowed by the shielding spells and the wards in the room, the power was coming from the collapsing wards too fast for the spells to deal with it. Harry poured more of his magic into the shields then flinched as the power from the wards threatened to spill over.

In a desperate move, Harry grabbed at the threatening magic, his hands reaching out in front of him in a reflex move. The magic flared and exploded and Harry was thrown across the room and into the wall. His head hit the wall with a loud thunk and then he knew nothing.

The first thing he was aware of when he came round was that someone had their hand on his chest. The next thing he was aware of was that his hands hurt. He groaned and tried to sit up.

"No, Harry." Remus' voice seemed to come from a great distance. "Don't move. Poppy will be here shortly."

Harry made an indistinct sound and slowly opened his eyes. His glasses were sitting askew on his face which made viewing the room a little strange. Remus was kneeling next to him, looking worried and still with one hand on his chest. He could see Ron and Hermione picking up something from the floor on the opposite side of the room and Moody was standing in the middle of the room, his wand out and frowning at the ceiling.

"The Horcrux?" Harry rasped quietly.

"Hermione says it's been destroyed," Remus said soothingly. "She says the soul fragment is gone as well. That it was probably destroyed in the blast."

"She's sure?" Harry asked with a grunt as his hands throbbed.

"Yes," Remus said firmly as he straightened Harry's glasses.

"My hands?" Harry said, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer or not.

Remus was silent for a moment. "They've…been burnt." He drew in a sharp breath at the expression that flitted across Harry's face and continued hastily, "Not like the Headmaster's hand, Harry. Not that bad. Poppy will be able to fix them. We didn't want to try healing them ourselves because healing burns is delicate work. We felt it was best to wait for Poppy."

Harry nodded groggily. "'Kay," he muttered.

The door to the room slammed open and Poppy Pomfrey came running in. She paused momentarily as she took in the signs of an explosion in the room then she came hurrying over to Remus and Harry.

"I might have known it was you, Mr Potter," she said with exasperation.

"Poppy, it's his hands," Remus said urgently.

Poppy flicked him a glance then gently lifted one of Harry's hands. This was the first time he'd had a chance to see the damage and he winced. His hands were red and blistered in most part but some areas were charred black. Poppy placed his hand back down and examined the other one before looking over at Harry.

"Not to worry, Harry, I can fix these," she said with a kind smile then she looked over at Remus. "Help me get him up, Remus. We'll get him into bed then I'll treat these burns."

The two adults helped Harry get to his feet and steadied him when he wavered.

"Do you think you can walk?" Poppy asked with concern.

"Uh, don't know," Harry murmured as the room spun.

Remus made an indistinct noise and, in a swift move, picked Harry up and settled him in his arms.

"Remus," Harry protested slightly hazily.

"I'm not having you falling down the stairs because you felt like being stubborn," Remus said firmly as he carried Harry out of the room, Poppy walking behind them, smothering a smile.

Harry grumbled quietly but let Remus carry him. In truth he felt weak and shaky and wasn't entirely sure he'd have made it up the stairs from the basement training room, let alone up to his bedroom. He winced when Remus lowered him onto the bed, his hands were really starting to make themselves known and every movement seemed to jar them.

"Get him into some pyjamas," Poppy said briskly. "I'm just going to speak to Miss Granger."

Remus nodded and helped Harry get changed, struggling not to laugh at Harry's low-voiced complaints at being undressed and dressed like a baby.

"I could let you do this for yourself," Remus said archly.

Harry winced as he realised how much that would hurt with his hands in this condition and he sighed. "Sorry, Remus," he said quietly.

Remus gave him a kind and amused smile. "You're as bad as your father…and Sirius. They were terrible patients."

"And you weren't?" Harry asked with a half-smile as Remus helped him put his pyjama top on.

"No, I generally behaved myself," Remus replied easily. "But then I usually felt bad enough the morning after the full moon that it was easier to just do whatever Poppy asked me to do. Misbehaving would have taken energy I just didn't have."

Harry gave an amused snort then hissed as he lay back against the pillows. "Merlin, this hurts."

"What happened?" Remus asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Wildfire event," Harry replied. "I tried to strengthen the shielding spells to contain it but it sort of backfired on me. Then I think I tried to grab at the magic and it kind of exploded. I had my hands stretched out." He gasped. "Is my wand okay?"

Remus nodded. "Moody found it on the opposite side of the room from where you were. He said it looked fine." He frowned. "He said it looked like there was a massive earthing of magical energy. Is that what you did?"

"I have no idea," Harry said wearily. "If I did then it was just sheer blind luck. I seem to have made a career of doing that."

As Remus chuckled, Madam Pomfrey came back into the room and she shooed him away from the bed. She placed a number of potion bottles on the bedside table and drew her wand.

"Now, Mr Potter, this may be a touch painful. I will endeavour to be as quick as I can," she said briskly but kindly.

Harry nodded apprehensively then drew in a sharp breath as Poppy began slowly and delicately drawing her wand over the worst of the burns. There was a small golden glow at the tip of her wand and it slowly began to heal the burns. As she worked, the pain in Harry's hands grew and his breathing grew ragged and harsh. Sweat beaded on his face and he gritted his teeth, small whimpers escaping from time to time. It seemed to take forever for Poppy to finish though the pain did not diminish once she put her wand down on the bedside table. She picked up one of the bottles and gestured for Remus to come over.

"Rub some of that into the hand," she ordered. "But do it gently. Make sure you cover the entire hand, right up to the wrist."

Remus nodded and gently turned Harry's hand so that the palm was facing upwards. He dribbled some of the potion into the palm and put the bottle back down. As he picked up Harry's hand and began to gently spread the potion, Poppy picked up her wand and moved around to the other side of the bed.

"Hold steady, Mr Potter," she said gently as she picked up Harry's other hand. "We're nearly done."

Harry nodded and drew in a deep shaky breath then Poppy started the healing process again. Harry gasped with pain as he remained as still as he could. Remus started murmuring soothing words as he continued to spread the potion over the healed hand and Harry was at least partially relieved to feel the pain ebb in _that_ hand.

Remus finished before Poppy and he placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder as Poppy worked. Both Remus and Poppy let out quiet sighs of relief when she finished and Remus picked up the potion bottle before moving around to spread it on this hand. Harry just lay back on the bed and gasped, his eyes closed and sweat trickling down his face. Other than the rise and fall of his chest, he did not move.

"Perhaps I should have told you to wait until we were done before getting him changed," Poppy said quietly to Remus.

"Cleaning spells will have to do," the werewolf murmured. "I don't think he could move now if he wanted to."

Poppy nodded and returned to where she had placed the potion bottles. She picked up a light blue potion and poured some into a small cup. She then slipped an arm behind Harry's shoulders and helped him sit up a bit.

"Drink this, dear," she said softly. "It'll help with the pain."

Harry obediently opened his mouth and swallowed the potion, not even bothering to grimace at the taste. When Poppy lowered him back down on the bed, he again did not move. The school nurse picked up a second potion, this one a bright red, and she poured some of that into the cup. She returned to Harry and again levered him up.

"One more," she said.

Harry again swallowed it down and by the time Poppy lowered him back to the bed, the potion had plunged him into sleep. Poppy brushed his hair back and looked over at Remus.

"Are you finished there?" she asked.

Remus nodded and handed the potion bottle he had been using back to the nurse. He then pulled out his wand and cast a cleaning charm on Harry's pyjamas. Poppy got Harry settled more comfortably on the bed as Remus disappeared into the bathroom. The werewolf returned with a damp cloth and he cleaned the sweat off Harry's face. Poppy gave him an approving look as she pulled the duvet up, gently arranging Harry's healed hands on top.

"Shouldn't they be bandaged?" Remus asked as he headed back to the bathroom to return the cloth.

Poppy waited until he had returned before answering. "No, the skin's been healed and that potion will act faster if the skin can breathe well. The second potion I gave him will let him sleep for a good twelve hours and that will give the healed skin time to settle down."

Remus nodded and the two adults headed to the door. "Will his hands scar?"

Poppy shook her head. "No. He was very lucky."

Remus gave a sigh of relief and closed the door gently as they left.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Aberforth paused in the stairwell and waited for the two guests heading upstairs to get out of sight. He then waited until he heard their door open and close before pressing the section of wall that would open the hidden door. He ducked through it, closing it firmly then walking down the stairs. He'd just spent the last six hours at Grimmauld Place. He had been called in by Alastor Moody to help with the reconstruction of the shields and wards on the basement training room. He'd been astonished when he'd walked in the room. The wards were damaged and in some places magically mutated. The whole room showed signs of a massive magical earthing event.

He'd been even more shocked to find that that is most likely what had happened and that Harry had been the one to cause it. As far as he was aware, Harry had no training in earthing wild magic so it must have been done almost instinctively. But the lack of training showed in the results; both in Harry's injuries and the damage done to the wards.

"Aberforth!"

He looked up to see that he'd arrived in his brother's room and that Albus and Severus were both looking at him with surprise. Albus rose to his feet and hurried over. He ushered his brother to a seat and gestured for Severus to fetch some wine. Severus nodded and obeyed, only pausing to pour a potion in the wine.

"What did you put in it?" Aberforth asked as he accepted the glass from the Potions Master.

"A restorative," Severus replied as he and the Headmaster resumed their seats.

Aberforth nodded and drank heartily. He felt the effects of the potion in the wine flow through him and sighed.

"What has happened?" Albus asked firmly.

"Who is the best person to train Harry in earthing wild magic?" Aberforth asked bluntly.

"Other than yourself?" Albus said. "Nikolai Godovsky in Russia but I doubt you'd be able to talk him into coming to Britain."

"Then I'll do it," Aberforth replied grimly.

"There was a wildfire even when Harry tried to destroy the containment wards on the Horcrux," Albus said with understanding. "Is he alright?"

Aberforth nodded. "Burns on his hands that Poppy has healed. And there was some interesting damage to the wards on their training room. Alastor asked me to help him repair them. That's why I'm tired."

"Did Harry succeed?" Albus asked with a certain amount of intensity.

"So Hermione says," Aberforth replied. "The locket is just a locket now. She says the blast of the earthing was sufficient to destroy the soul fragment."

"Yes, it certainly would," Albus said with relief. "Still I think you'd best teach Harry how to earth magic. That is hardly the best way of destroying the soul fragments."

"Indeed," Aberforth said dryly. "So, is there anything I should know?"

"I take it you already know what Fenrir has done?" Albus asked.

Aberforth nodded. "I'm sure Severus as already told you of the little encounter at the wedding. Remus has gone back to the remaining werewolves to see if he can convince them to join us. He should be back in the next day or two."

"Good," Albus said with approval. "Voldemort has sent Fenrir and his pack up to the Forbidden Forest to cause trouble. Severus has similar orders."

"The Dark Lord wants Draco and I to lurk around Hogsmeade and create trouble to try and lure Potter or one of the others out," Severus confirmed.

"And where is Mr Malfoy?" Aberforth asked.

"Upstairs in his room, asleep," Severus replied shortly. "We arrived late this afternoon after you had left."

Aberforth sighed and tipped his head back as he thought. "Damn! There's no way I can pass this sort of information off as having eavesdropped on the right conversation. Nor can I mention that you and Draco Malfoy are here. I'd have the entire bloody Order in the place after your blood."

"I think we are going to have to leave this one," Albus said. "We will just have to hope that Harry will not overreact when he hears news of sightings of Severus and Draco."

"I think we've got a good chance of that happening," Aberforth replied. "Moody's been working hard with Harry to get him to control his temper. The insults that fly during their training sessions can get a little hair-raising and it's always exciting when Harry finally flies off the handle. But it's taking longer and longer for that to happen as the training sessions continue." He paused. "Did I tell you that Moody suspended them from carrying out any more missions until Harry gets his temper under control?"

Both Severus and Albus looked surprised then Albus chuckled.

"Pity I couldn't do something similar," he said with amusement.

Aberforth chuckled as well. "There was apparently quite the explosion of temper when Moody made the announcement. But it seems to be working."

"What is their next target once there are back in business?" Severus asked curiously.

"The orphanage," Aberforth replied. "They had the thought of speaking to some of the former students from Voldemort's time there. Harry remembered a few names. He put the memory of viewing your memory in a pensieve, Albus. Moody was able to get some clues as to where the orphanage is and I think Minerva was able to dig up some old records at the school. So those former orphans and the orphanage itself are their next stop."

Albus nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I had thought there might be something there but I did not have time to return. I had hoped to do so with Harry at some point this year. Do you have any kind of timeline for this?"

"No," Aberforth replied. "But I suspect they'll want to do it sooner rather than later. They won't have any trouble leaving the school when they need to. Ron is a prefect and Minerva made Harry the Head Boy and Hermione the Head Girl."

Albus beamed as Severus scowled.

"I'm sure Potter enjoyed hearing _that_ news," Severus said waspishly.

"Actually he was a bit stunned," Aberforth replied blandly. "And I don't think he's entirely comfortable with it either. One of the reasons Minerva made him Head Boy was because he's the Boy-Who-Lived. He got this very exasperated look on his face when that was mentioned in passing a few days ago and I distinctly saw Hermione and Ron roll their eyes."

Severus was about to reply when he suddenly twitched and stood. "I must go," he said abruptly. "Draco is waking. I do not want him to come looking for me and not be able to find me."

Aberforth and Albus nodded and watched as the Potions Master strode up the stairs.

"Keep an eye on Harry for me," Albus asked his brother. "I shall have to stay here with Draco staying at the Hog's Head."

Aberforth nodded and stood. "I'd best head back upstairs. Like Severus, I need to be where I'm supposed to be."

Albus nodded and watched as his brother walked up the stairs.

The first thing Harry was aware of when he woke was that nearly every part of him ached. He sighed and kept his eyes closed. This was becoming a rather familiar feeling and not a good one either. He sighed again as the memories of what had happened seeped back into his mind and he tentatively flexed his hands.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice from beside him made him start and his eyes flew open.

He saw the blurry figure beside the bed stand and reach for something on the bedside table then his glasses were being slid onto his face. The world came into focus and he saw Hermione looking rather anxiously at him.

"Hey," he croaked.

Hermione sighed with relief. "How are you feeling?"

"Average," Harry said after a moment's thought. "My hands?"

"Madam Pomfrey healed them," Hermione replied then she gestured towards a small jar on the bedside table. "She left instructions that we were to rub that salve into your hands twice a day for the next couple of days and that you were to behave yourself for at least a week. Do they hurt?"

Harry flexed his hands again. "No. They feel a little stiff and achy but they don't hurt."

Hermione hesitated for a moment. "Harry? What happened?"

Harry snorted. "I was hoping you could tell me. Remus said something about an earthing event."

Hermione nodded. "That's what Moody was talking about but he couldn't be entirely sure until he spoke to you."

Harry nodded and gingerly pushed the duvet down. "I might as well get up then. I take it Moody is here?"

Hermione jumped forward to help him then nodded. "He's working with Ron. We were going to alternate today so that one of us could stay with you."

"Where's Remus?" Harry asked with a frown.

"He went back to speak to the werewolves," Hermione said. "He wanted to try before we all went back to Hogwarts. He got an owl just after you were brought up here. A few of the werewolves who were with Greyback wanted to talk."

"That's good news, isn't it?" Harry asked worriedly as he headed over to his wardrobe and fumbled it open.

Hermione made an abortive attempt to help him but backed off at his sudden sharp look. "I suppose it might be," she said in answer to his question. "He seemed surprised but pleased by the note."

Harry made a worried and noncommittal noise as he headed towards the bathroom with his clothes. He shut the door behind him and dumped his clothes on the bench. In the privacy of the room he looked down at his hands. He gave a shuddering sigh of relief when they proved to look normal. A touch red and rather stiff but very much normal. No blackness or burnt flesh. That was at least one worry he could put away. He sighed and showered as quickly as he could before getting dressed and walking back out into his bedroom to find Hermione sitting in the chair beside the bed and reading.

"Did Remus say when he'd be back?" he asked.

"He wasn't sure," Hermione replied. "But he didn't think it would be more than a day or two."

"Wasn't he going to come with us on the train?" Harry asked as Hermione closed her book.

Hermione stepped forward quickly and opened the door, giving Harry a look that dared him to object.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sure he'll make it. He didn't think he'd be gone long."

Harry nodded and the two of them walked down the stairs. They headed straight down to the training room and walked in to find Ron throwing spells at the shielded wall with Moody watching closely. The ex-Auror turned when Harry and Hermione walked in and a pleased look settled on his face.

"Potter. Good to see you up and about," he growled.

Ron spun around and grinned. "Harry! Are you alright?"

Harry grinned back and nodded. "My hands are a bit stiff but otherwise I'm okay."

"What happened, Potter?" Moody asked intently.

"I'm not really sure," Harry replied as he leaned against one of the tables. Hermione stood next to him and Moody and Ron walked over and joined them. "I had real problems getting to the inner containment ward and Bill's instructions were pretty easy to follow once I was there. It was when the wards were collapsing that I had some trouble. The wards collapsed too fast and the shields and the wards on the room weren't able to handle it."

"Wildfire event," Moody growled while nodding in understanding. "Go on."

"I could feel the magic growing and about to spill over into the room," Harry continued. "I…I don't really know _what_ I did actually. I guess I sort of grabbed at it and the next thing I know it exploded. I stretched out my hands in reflex reaction when I grabbed at the magic. I guess that why they got burned."

Moody nodded again. "You were lucky, Potter. Somehow you instinctively earthed the overflow magic. The explosion would have ten times worse if you hadn't and those burns would have been worse as well."

"Is that how the Headmaster's hand was hurt?" Harry asked.

"No," Moody growled. "That came from a protective spell that he missed."

"How do I avoid that happening again?" Harry asked. "Because I've got three more of these things to go."

Moody chuckled. "Don't worry. We'll get a teacher for you. We probably should have thought that this might happen. Just didn't think the wildfire event, if it occurred, would be that big." He scratched his head as he thought. "Aberforth knows a bit about earthing magic. I'll ask him if he'll teach you."

Harry sighed with relief. "Good. Thank you. Was the Horcrux destroyed?"

"As far as I can tell, yes," Hermione said. "The locket's a bit damaged and there are no signs of the soul fragment or any other kind of magic on it. I think the wildfire event also destroyed the soul fragment."

"There's also no sign of any kind of foreign or Dark magic in the room," Moody added. "So I think Granger's right. Just wasn't the best way to go about doing it."

Harry gave the ex-Auror a wry grin as Hermione and Ron laughed.

"So we're training then?" Harry said brightly.

"Granger and Weasley are training," Moody corrected. "_You're_ behaving yourself. Poppy gave us orders."

"If you think your hands are up to it, you could go and check the potions next door," Hermione suggested. "There should be a few that are almost ready to be bottled."

Harry grumbled good-naturedly but gave his friends a wave and headed next door.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stood in the hallway with their trunks and cages around them. They were waiting for the cars Mr Weasley had organised and for once they were ready early. Harry was fingering the Head Boy badge Hermione had insisted he pin to his jumper and looking pensive. He and Ginny had spent part of last night talking and had decided that while they would not flaunt their relationship, they would also not hide it. Harry hadn't been entirely happy with the idea but Ginny had finally reminded him that Draco and the other Slytherins knew that they had been going out last year. There was no real point in trying to deny there was anything between them. She had also pointed out that the fact that she was his girlfriend might actually deter some attacks. Those who were truly afraid of Harry might just think twice before making him angry, which hurting her in any way would definitely do.

"Stop fiddling with it," Hermione chided him, her Head Girl badge gleaming.

Harry pulled his hand away from the badge and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Bit nervous, I guess. I'm not really sure what I'm meant to be doing as Head Boy."

"Not much on the train," Hermione replied. "We just welcome the new prefects and organise the patrol roster."

"Who do you think they'll get to replace Malfoy?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Not much choice really," Hermione replied. "It'll probably be Blaise Zabini. Crabbe and Goyle aren't really candidates and Theodore Nott was more of a follower really. And Slughorn seems to like Zabini."

Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes, remembering that interminable lunch on the train last year.

"Tell me Slughorn isn't going to be on the train this year?" Harry said pleadingly.

"We'll have Remus with us," Hermione said soothingly. "We can always say we've got a prior invitation."

"Yeah, right!" Harry said with relief. They'd received an owl from Remus the previous night telling them he'd meet them at Platform 9¾.

Just then the cars rolled up in front of the house and Mrs Weasley, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley and Mr Weasley emerged from the kitchen and hustled them all out the door. The students got into the car with their various pets as Kingsley and Moody shoved their trunks in the boot then they were off. Once they arrived at King's Cross, Ron and Harry grabbed a couple of trolleys and the group made their way to the entrance. They slipped through and were relieved to find Remus waiting for them on the other side.

"There you are!" he said with relief. "Not that there's much of a crowd."

Harry and the others looked around. The usual crowd of students and families was absent. There were only about half the usual number of people on the platform. Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged grim looks and the group headed towards the train. They manhandled their trunks on board and Remus led them down to the compartment he'd commandeered. They then piled off the train to say their goodbyes. The whistle of the train had them scrambling back on board and they waved goodbye until the train went round the bend.

"We'd better go," Hermione said to Ron and Harry. The two boys nodded and the trio headed towards the front of the train as Ginny and Remus went to the compartment.

The trio walked into the prefects' compartment to find Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan already waiting for them

"Heard you'd been named Head Boy," Ernie said sagely to Harry. "Good show, old boy. Job couldn't have gone to a better person."

"Bet Malfoy wouldn't agree with that," Ron said with a grin.

"True," Ernie replied. "Speaking of the Slytherins, have you heard the news?"

"What news?" Harry asked as he sat down.

"Practically all of the Seventh Year Slytherins aren't coming back," Hannah said eagerly. "There's only Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass returning this year."

Harry's reply was interrupted by the arrival of the other prefects. The news of the Slytherins had already made its way around the train so no one was overly surprised when a defensive-looking Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass walked into the compartment, both wearing prefect badges. Harry gave them a wary but friendly nod and Hermione smiled at them. They both seemed surprised by this relatively warm reception and even more surprised when the other prefects tentatively followed the lead of their Head Boy and Girl.

Hermione stood and got the meeting off to a start, introducing herself and Harry. Everyone grinned and Hannah made a quietly amusing comment that if everyone here didn't know them by now they never would. Harry grinned and agreed with her. Hermione laughed then continued with the meeting. It didn't take long to sort out the patrolling schedule and a couple of the new Fifth Year prefects made the comment that there weren't _that_ many on the train anyway.

"Some are being brought straight to the school by their parents by Apparition or Floo but a lot aren't returning at all," the Fifth Year Ravenclaw said soberly.

"Hogwarts is still the safest place to be," Harry said staunchly. "You all know how much Voldemort wants me dead. Do you really think I'd be returning if it wasn't safe at Hogwarts?"

The others looked surprised then nodded in growing agreement; that was a good point.

"Besides the Professors have spent a lot of time over the holidays strengthening the wards," Hermione added. "The wards won't let anyone through who wears the Dark Mark."

"Why hadn't that been done before?" Padma Patil asked curiously.

Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. "Snape wore the Dark Mark," Harry said flatly, deciding not to lie to the prefects. "He somehow managed to convince the Headmaster that he'd made a big mistake becoming a Death Eater and he supposedly spied for our side. The wards had to be altered to let him through."

"Obviously Snape wasn't really working for us," Ernie said grimly.

"No," Harry said shortly.

"Well, Theodore and I don't wear the Dark Mark nor are we likely to," Daphne said with a hint of belligerence. "Not all Slytherins want to bow down before the Dark Lord."

"You'll probably find that the Slytherins who have returned this year are mostly neutral," Theodore added flatly. "Most of 'em won't declare for a side until they get an idea of which way the battle's going to go."

"What about you two?" Padma asked archly.

"I'm staying neutral for the moment," Daphne said defensively. "I don't want to join the Dark Lord but I also don't want to get myself killed fighting against him."

"That's fair enough," Harry said firmly, ending any arguments before they could begin.

"I'm joining you, if you'll have me," Theodore said defiantly. "My father ended up in bloody Azkaban because of the Dark Lord and _He's_ not done anything to get Dad out. My mother's spent the whole holidays whining about it. The Dark Lord doesn't care and he's a bloody hypocrite to boot. I've heard the rumours and I believe them. He's a half-blood. He's _using_ the purebloods."

"Do you agree with what he says?" Hermione asked archly.

"All that purebloods are superior rubbish?" Theodore said scornfully. "No, don't be stupid. It's rubbish! The wizarding world would have died out years go if not for the Muggleborns and half-bloods. And unlike certain other people, I plan on thinking for myself."

"Would you be joining us if your father wasn't in Azkaban?" Harry asked.

Theodore gave him a long look. "Hard to tell. Maybe not. I'd probably remain neutral. I won't deny it's easier to be my own man without my father pressuring me."

Harry nodded slowly. "That's an honest answer and a fair one." He held out his hand. "I'm glad you're joining us, Nott."

Nott shook Harry's hand firmly and Harry saw a brief flash of relief in the other boy's eyes. He also noticed that the Slytherin Sixth and Fifth Year prefects seemed to be more in Daphne's camp than Theodore's.

Harry stood and looked over at Hermione. "Was there anything else we needed to do right now?"

Hermione shook her head. "No and it might be best if we did start patrolling. It might give the other students a bit of a lift."

Harry nodded and Hermione and Ron joined him. They'd decided that the prefects would patrol in groups of three or four just in case there was trouble of any kind and they had taken the opportunity to grab the first shift. Some the prefects left, heading for their own compartments while others stayed to catch up with friends.

Harry, Ron and Hermione slowly walked down the corridor, glancing into the various compartments as they passed them.

"That Ravenclaw was right," Ron said soberly. "The train's pretty empty and I don't think we've seen even one new First Year yet."

"They might some of the ones being brought straight to the school," Hermione said. "Being so young, their parents might have decided to be wary."

"Let's hope so," Harry said. "Min…Professor McGonagall had to talk pretty hard and fast to get the Board to reopen the school this year. The last thing she needs is for people not to come."

Hermione and Ron nodded grimly and they continued walking down the corridor, nodding in hello to those they knew.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Once the trio had finished their patrol, they handed things off to the next group of prefects and headed back to their compartment where they found Ginny and Remus talking with Neville and Luna. The two misfits greeted their friends and made room for them on the bench seats.

"How did it go?" Ginny asked as Harry sat next to her.

"Interesting," he replied. "The Slytherins are going to be a little light on for numbers this year. It looks like the only ones who have returned are those who are neutral or on our side."

"We're going to _cream_ them in Quidditch this year," Ron announced gleefully.

Everyone stared at him for a moment then burst out laughing.

"Ron, only _you_ would come to that conclusion at this time," Hermione said with affectionate exasperation. "We're in the middle of a war that could kill us all and you're worried about _Quidditch_."

"Well, he _does_ have a point," Harry said with a straight face.

The others snickered at the disapproving look on Hermione's face then the bushy-haired girl seemed to realise she was being teased and she began to smile.

"We also got a new ally," she said, rasing an eyebrow at Harry.

Harry smothered his snickers. "Yeah. Theodore Nott's on our side."

Silence greeted that announcement.

"Do you trust him?" Remus asked carefully.

Harry cocked his head to one side and thought for a moment. "Yeah, I do. Mind you, he's only on our side because his father's locked up in Azkaban. If his father was around, he said he'd probably remain neutral."

Remus considered that for a moment. "Hmm, that's a fairly Slytherin way of saying he's genuine."

"That's what I thought," Harry replied. "But to be honest, I don't particularly care if the Slytherins are neutral or with us. Just as long as they don't get in the way."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Hermione asked.

"Not really," Ron said soberly. "I mean that's really what we want everyone who's not ready for this to do. Get out of the way and let us do what we have to do."

Hermione was silent for a moment. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Everyone was quiet for a moment then Neville nervously cleared his throat.

"In light of what happened last year, are you going to start the DA again?" he asked nervously.

"I've been thinking about it," Harry admitted. "I think it might be valuable to have a group of people used to working with each other available in case anything happens but I'm not sure I'll have time for it this year."

"We could do it," Ginny said suddenly, gesturing to Neville and Luna.

Neville looked startled at that idea while Luna merely looked up from her copy of the Quibbler with an interested expression.

Harry considered it. "Yeah, I guess you could," he said finally.

"Are you serious?" Neville stammered.

"Why not?" Harry replied. "You and Luna were the only two from the DA who answered the call that night. Why shouldn't you be in charge along with Luna and Ginny?"

Neville looked surprised then an odd expression of defiance flitted across his face. "We were, weren't we?" he said quietly.

"Yes, we were," Luna said calmly. "I believe Neville should be overall charge. He's in Seventh Year after all." She looked over at Ginny. "We can be his hardy lieutenants."

Small smiles flickered over everyone's faces at that last comment.

"But…but…_I_ wouldn't know what to do," Neville protested.

"And _I_ did?" Harry asked sardonically. "Hermione helped a bit but mostly I just made it up as I went along."

"Oh," Neville replied, looking startled. "It didn't show."

"Sheer dumb luck," Harry replied with a grin. "I've made a career of it."

Laughter rang out for a moment then Harry sobered.

"Seriously, I'll help when I can and so will Ron and Hermione," he said encouragingly. "And I'm sure Remus and Moody would help if you asked."

"Of course," Remus said hastily. "I think it's a good idea personally. I have my doubts as to whether Voldemort would attack Hogwarts but his Death Eaters may make an attempt, changes in the wards or not. It would a good idea to have a well-organised force inside the castle to defend it."

"But _me_?" Neville squeaked.

"Why not?" Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Besides you are good at Defense. You got an Exceeds Expectations on your OWL, didn't you?"

"Well, yes," Neville admitted slowly.

"And you did well at the Ministry," Harry continued inexorably. "You stood by me the whole time. You faced the Death Eaters and fought them even though you were injured."

Realisation flooded across Neville's face and his shoulders straightened slightly. "Yeah…yeah, I did," he said in a tone of wonder, almost as though he had really realised what he'd done back then.

"And you fought when those Death Eaters broke into the school," Harry concluded. "You've got as much right as any of the rest of us to be in charge of the DA."

"I knew your parents quite well before…they were hurt. Through the Order, of course," Remus said quietly, gaining Neville's immediate attention. "They were wonderful people. Very kind, caring and loving. And very determined. They fought Voldemort fiercely. They'd be very proud of what you've done in the last couple of years."

Neville seemed to shiver momentarily and Harry realised that in some ways he and Neville were exactly the same. Even though Neville's parents were still alive, he had never really known them as he should have. In fact in some ways, Neville's situation was worse than his own. He at least had the comfort of knowing that his parents had died bravely. Neville's parents lingered on in a state of quiet insanity, seemingly not even knowing their own son. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for Neville to go and visit them.

"Thank you," Neville said softly.

"Anyway, think about it," Harry said breaking the small silence that had fallen. "You don't have to make a decision right now."

"No, it's alright," Neville said, his voice sounding determined. "I'll do it."

"Great!" Harry said with an encouraging smile as Ron slapped their fellow Gryffindor on the back. "Though you might want to wait until we have a couple of classes with Moody before you start just to see where he's going to go. Ron, Hermione and I will help you whenever we can. We'll certainly be there for the first meeting so that everyone knows this has our support."

"Okay," Neville said sounding both strangely confident and rather shell-shocked.

The conversation moved in other directions after that and Harry settled back to enjoy what might one of the few calm and quiet moments that he might get this year.

They were visited regularly over the course of the day; by prefects checking in to report that everything was quiet, fellow students wanting to say hello and congratulations and then finally Theodore Nott appeared in the door of the compartment.

"Any room in here?" he asked, trying to appear casual and mostly succeeding. There was an odd tension in his shoulders and Harry could see a crumpled piece of parchment clenched in one hand.

"Sure," Harry said calmly before anyone else could speak.

He nudged Ginny and she moved over a bit closer to Remus. Harry scooted along after her and Theodore sat down with something that was very close to a sigh of relief. The others stared warily at the Slytherin for a moment until Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione and Ron. Hermione blinked then asked a question about their upcoming Transfiguration classes that Remus hastily answered. Luna looked up and got involved in their impromptu discussion. Ron nudged his sister with one foot and asked her a question about Quidditch then the siblings drew Neville into their debate. Harry watched them for a moment then turned casually to Theodore.

"Anything wrong?" he asked quietly.

Theodore gave him a sharp glare that had Harry briefly wondering if Snape had given his House lessons on how to do that properly then the Slytherin boy sighed and sank back into the seat. He stared out the window of the door for a moment then held the crumpled piece of parchment he'd been holding out. Harry took it carefully and opened it, absently smoothing the creases as he read.

_Mr Nott,_

_The Dark Lord has requested that you take your father's place within his inner circle. Be waiting outside the Hogwarts gates at nine pm on the evening of the 3rd of September. You will be met by Draco._

_Severus Snape_

"When did you get this?" Harry asked as he refolded the note and handed it back.

"It arrived this morning," Theodore said tightly. "But we were in such a rush that I didn't have time to read it until now."

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked.

"I don't _know_," Theodore growled. "I have no intention of joining the Death Eaters but I also don't know what will happen if I refuse this summons. Don't be fooled by the word _request_. This is no request, it's an order." He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "I was hoping you might have some ideas."

Harry sat and thought for a moment, ignoring the slightly stilted conversations swirling around the compartment. Draco and possibly Snape would be waiting for Nott outside the Hogwarts gates. This seemed a prime opportunity for an attempt to capture one or both of them.

"I've got a few ideas," Harry said calmly. "I'll need to speak to a couple of people first though."

"I have to answer this," Theodore said urgently. "No later than tonight."

Harry hesitated then his expression firmed. "Tell him you'll be waiting."

"Are you mad?" Theodore hissed. "I told you I don't want to join the Death Eaters."

"You won't be," Harry assured him. "But I want Draco to be there at that time. With any luck Snape will be with him."

Theodore stared at Harry with dawning realisation and some incredulity. "You want me to _capture_ them?"

Harry snorted. "Now you're thinking like a Gryffindor. There'll be more than just you there. The rest of us will be hiding."

"No need to be insulting," Theodore said, struggling to regain his composure. "And who exactly is the rest of us?"

"Me, Ron and Hermione for a start," Harry replied. "Probably more. Depends who I can rustle up on short notice."

Theodore relaxed a bit. "That's sounds better."

Harry laughed. "Bit less Gryffindorish?"

"You Gryffindors are very good at carrying out plans but you sometimes forget to take into account all the variables," Theodore said, calming down considerably.

"As long as we keep winning at Quidditch, I don't care," Harry said airily.

"_That's_ not going to be a challenge this year," Theodore grumbled.

Harry laughed and the others seemed to take this as an indication that the private conversation between Harry and Theodore was over.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked, slightly suspiciously.

"Quidditch," Theodore answered sourly.

Ron beamed. "This is going to be a great year for Gryffindor."

Theodore grumbled. "Of course it is. You've got no bloody competition."

Ron's reply was interrupted by Remus' amused reminder that they needed to get changed into their uniforms. Nott rolled his eyes and left the compartment and there followed several minutes of flurrying among Harry and his friends before the train lurched to a halt.

They climbed off the train and saw Hagrid standing at the end of the platform, calling for any First Years. Only three timid eleven year olds crept over to the half-giant and Harry gave Hagrid a grim wave. He could only hope that more First Years had arrived with their parents by other means. They made their way through the rather diminished crowd to the thestral-drawn carriages and were soon walking through the Entrance Hall towards the Great Hall.

"Is it just me or was it a bit strange not to have a bit of a confrontation with Draco on the train?" Ron asked as they waved to Luna and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Harry looked around and was relieved to see that most of their fellow Gryffindors had returned this year. "Yeah, it was a bit odd. But he didn't do anything last year either."

"He broke your nose!" Ron objected.

"That was mostly my fault," Harry replied then he looked up at the teachers' table.

It felt something like a punch in the stomach to see Minerva McGonagall sitting where Dumbledore always had and Harry quickly swallowed and ducked his head. For all his brave and defiant words about returning this year, he hadn't really thought about what it would be like without the Headmaster.

"Merlin, that's strange," Ron muttered, having followed Harry's gaze. "No Dumbledore twinkling at us and no Snape glaring. Just doesn't seem right."

There were mutters of agreement from those who were near enough to hear Ron's words.

"Seems a bit bizarre that we'd actually _miss_ Snape," Seamus said with an attempt at humour.

Harry snorted and looked back up at the teachers. Slughorn was sitting between Professor Sprout and Vector and looking rather less jovial than he had the previous year. Moody had taken Snape's old seat and he nodded soberly to Harry when his gaze reached that end of the table. Remus was sitting next to Moody and, as Harry watched, the two of them started a low voiced conversation. In fact most of the teachers were looking grim and tired.

Just then the doors to the Hall opened and Professor Flitwick came in with a bare dozen First Years trailing after him.

"So few," Hermione said with quiet dismay.

"Don't they know their kids are probably safer _here_ than at home," Ron said with frustration.

"They're _scared_, Ron," Ginny chided as the new First Years lined up in front of the teachers.

"So scared they're going to get their kids killed," Ron grumbled as the Hat began its song. "As well as themselves."

"You can't blame them for wanting to keep their children close," Harry said ruefully. "I mean, last year we had _Death Eaters_ in here. You can understand their worries."

"Min…Professor McGonagall's tightened the wards," Ron said quietly. "That won't happen again."

"Maybe they'll send them in a couple of weeks once it becomes clear that everything's fine here," Hermione said soothingly. "Professor McGonagall mentioned she would allow that the last time she was at Headquarters."

They quietened down as the first child sat under the Hat and was sent to a greatly diminished Ravenclaw table. Harry was surprised but pleased to see that Hufflepuff nearly rivalled Gryffindor in the number of students who had returned this year and he could only assume that what had happened to Cedric had created a wave of defiance among the Hufflepuffs.

The Sorting continued with Hufflepuff gaining four of the twelve, Ravenclaw three, Gryffindor four and Slytherin only one. Once that was done, Professor McGonagall stood up. She looked tired and worn but there was a hint of defiance and pride underneath all of that.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," she said, her voice only a fraction unsteady. "Before we start dinner, I would just like to thank you all for returning this year. No matter what happens in the world, education is still important as are the friends you make while you are here. Enjoy your dinner."

As she sat down the plates on the tables filled with food and the noise level rose as everyone began to eat. Ron and Hermione waited until their house mates had involved themselves in conversation then they leaned forward.

"So what did Nott want?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "Not now."

"As Head Boy and Girl, we get our own common room," Hermione said briskly. "We can talk about it there."

Harry nodded and turned his attention back to his dinner. "I need to have a word with Moody first though."

Both Ron and Hermione's eyebrows went up at that. "That serious?" Ron asked.

"Interesting," Harry corrected. "And a good opportunity. But not one I want to talk about in front of everybody."

Ron nodded and attacked his own meal. Once everyone had finished eating and the last empty plate had disappeared, Professor McGonagall stood again. Harry half-listened as she gave a start of term speech not that much different from Professor Dumbledore's then everyone was standing and heading for the dorms. The Headmistress caught Harry and Hermione's attention and Ron waved them off as he decided to be responsible and see that the rest of the House, and particularly the First Years, got up to the dorm safely.

"Meet you at the Fat Lady," he said as he ushered the four new Gryffindors along.

Harry nodded as he and Hermione headed up towards the teachers' table. Professor McGonagall gave them a weary smile in welcome.

"Welcome back, Mr Potter, Miss Granger," she said. "I just want to show you where your common room is and give you the password then I'll let you get some rest."

"I just need to have a word with Professor Moody first," Harry said hurriedly.

Minerva gave him a curious look but nodded. Harry dashed over to catch the new Defence teacher before he could leave.

"Professor Moody!" he called and the grizzled ex-Auror stopped and turned.

"Potter," Moody said in greeting. "What can I do for you?"

"Something interesting happened on the train that we need to talk to you about," Harry said. "I was going to tell Ron and Hermione in the Head Students common room but you should definitely be in this as well."

Moody eyed him for a long moment then nodded. "Let me just get a few things settled, Potter. I'll meet you there."

Harry nodded and rejoined Hermione and the Headmistress. They walked through the corridors silently until they came to a portrait of the four animal emblems of the school.

"This portrait is the entrance to your common room," Minerva said with a small smile. "The password is Trinity."

Harry grinned and Hermione chuckled. "Appropriate," she said.

"Yes, I thought so," Minerva replied. "I trust you will keep me in the loop regarding your activities?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

The Headmistress patted him on the shoulder. "I know you're meeting with Alastor right now. I won't insist on being present. I'm afraid I have far too much work to do."

"I'll come and see you tomorrow," Harry promised.

Minerva nodded and swept off down the corridor.

"I'll go and get Ron," Hermione said then she headed for Gryffindor Tower.

Harry turned to the portrait and said, "Trinity." It swung open and Harry walked into a large well-appointed room. There were two large desks both flanked by well-stocked bookshelves. There was also a fireplace with a couple of comfortable-looking couches and armchairs in front of it. The room was decorated in shades of cream and brown and Harry thought it was a nice compromise for all of the normal House colours. As he walked further into the room a house elf popped in and bowed.

"Would Harry Potter like anything?" it squeaked.

"Um, could you bring tea for four please," Harry asked and the little creature bowed again and popped out.

It was back shortly with not only the makings of tea but also a plate of biscuits and small pastries. Harry thanked the house elf then turned as the door opened to admit Hermione, Ron and Moody. Hermione and Ron immediately looked around the room as Moody headed for an armchair and poured himself some tea. The trio soon joined him and when they were all settled, Ron was the first to lean forward.

"Alright, Harry. What did Nott want?" he asked intently.

"He got a letter this morning and didn't have time to read it until after the meeting," Harry explained. "It was from Voldemort via Snape. Voldemort wants Nott to take his father's place in the Death Eaters. Nott doesn't want to do it. But he's supposed to meet Draco outside the gates at nine pm in two days."

"Why doesn't he want to follow his father?" Moody asked suspiciously.

"Nott thinks Voldemort's an idiot," Harry said.

"He's on our side," Hermione added. "Though he was honest enough to admit that he'd be neutral if his father wasn't in Azkaban."

Moody grunted then nodded briefly. "Guess I'd better start trusting your judgement, Potter. I take it you have an ambush in mind?"

Harry nodded. "Draco will definitely be there and there's a chance Snape might be as well. I think we should take the opportunity presented to us."

Moody leaned back in his armchair and drank his tea. "Remus, Minerva, Filius," he muttered. "Probably be able to get Tonks and maybe Aberforth on short notice."

"Plus the three of us," Harry said firmly.

"I suspended you lot," Moody said with one raised eyebrow.

"I've gotten better," Harry countered. "You know I have."

The silence stretched as Moody eyed the young leader of the Order sitting opposite him then he finally nodded.

"Alright," he growled. "But if you let Snape or Malfoy goad you into doing something stupid I'll make sure you regret it."

Harry swallowed and nodded. He realised from the expression on Moody's face that the man was deadly serious. "That's fair enough," he said with a hint of nervousness.

"Let me think this through a bit," Moody said as he stood. "Come and see me tomorrow after classes and we'll put a workable plan together." He headed for the door but paused with one hand on the handle. "And wear those uniforms you three put together. 'Bout time the Trinity got a public airing."

Harry, Ron and Hermione grinned at each other as Moody left.

"It's about bloody time," Ron said, his grin turning decidedly ferocious.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Harry stood in the middle of the dorm room and adjusted the collar of his duelling robes, making sure the Trinity symbol was securely fastened. He looked up as Ron strode into the room and nodded.

"Ready?"

Ron nodded and Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak. The two boys headed downstairs where they found Hermione waiting for them in the common room. Their fellow Gryffindors were giving them some odd and rather apprehensive looks but Harry ignored them and headed for the entrance hole, Ron and Hermione moving to flank him on either side.

They walked down to the Entrance Hall silently. They'd spent several hours closeted away with Moody, Remus, Minerva and Filius the previous night establishing what they were going to do. Tonks had unfortunately not been able to get away from the Ministry and Aberforth had declined as he suspected he might get a few interesting people into the pub that night. They knew what they had to do but they had found that as the day wore on their nerves had become more and more tightly strung. They arrived in the Entrance Hall and found Moody and Minerva already there.

"We're just waiting for Remus and Filius," Minerva said, stating the obvious in such a way that made the trio realise that their teachers were just as nervous as they were.

Remus came clattering down the stairs at the same time that Filius rushed up to them, looking excited and surprisingly dangerous. It was that look that reminded Harry that Filius Flitwick had once been a duelling champion.

Moody nodded at the new arrivals then, with a short jerk of his head, led them outside and down towards the gates. It was just after seven pm and they wanted to be in position well before eight. They had to assume that Draco and anyone who came with him would arrive early. When they reached the gates, Moody stopped them.

"Get to your positions and remember the plan," he barked. He then levelled a glare at Harry. "All of it."

Harry grimaced and nodded. Minerva and Remus headed towards some trees on one side of the gates while Moody and Filius took shelter on the other. Both sets of teachers used several wardings to make themselves essentially invisible. Harry shook out his invisibility cloak and threw it over himself and Ron and Hermione and they made their way out of the gates and to a sheltered position not far away that Moody had found the previous night.

"We're getting too big for all three of us to hide under here," Hermione muttered as they settled in to wait.

"That's Ron's fault," Harry whispered with a quick grin.

"Very funny," Ron grumbled as he got himself as comfortable as he could. "Does Nott know what we're doing tonight?"

"He knows we've got something planned but not the specifics," Harry replied quietly. "It's better that he doesn't know exactly what's going to happen. Means his reactions will be more natural. Besides we're not really going to get things underway until he's leaving."

Ron nodded and the trio fell silent as they waited. It wasn't the most comfortable thing they'd ever done nor was it very interesting. That changed just after eight when they heard quiet voices approaching; very _familiar_ quiet voices.

"I can deal with Nott!" That was Draco's voice though it was lacking its usual superior sneer and instead sounded almost desperate with a hint of a whine underneath.

"Just be sure of him before you both leave."

"Snape!" Harry whispered then he felt a hand land on each shoulder and he closed his eyes, _willing_ himself to calm down. He let his shoulders relax and felt the hands disappear. He looked at his friends and saw the worried look in Hermione's eyes and the warning in Ron's. He nodded briefly and felt more than heard their sighs of relief.

As they watched, Snape and Draco walked warily round the bend in the path. Both had their wands out and looked very nervous.

"Why did we have to meet here?" Draco asked. "It's too close. What if a teacher sees us?"

Snape scowled and pulled Draco into the shadows of the trees. They were standing far too close to the trio for Harry's comfort, particularly considering Snape's odd ability to tell when he was nearby under his invisibility cloak. He could only hope that Snape was distracted enough not to suspect their presence.

"Stay out of sight and no one will see us," Snape snapped. "The only one likely to be outside at this time of night is Hagrid and the darkness will shield us soon enough."

"Why does the Dark Lord want Nott anyway?" Draco's voice had that whining quality again.

"Because of your inability to carry out a simple task, our Master has lost his spy within those walls," Snape snarled, gesturing to Hogwarts. "He needs a new one. Nott is the best option. Our only other real choice is Daphne Greengrass."

"She's a neutral," Draco said with a scowl.

"I am aware of that," Snape replied. "Now be quiet. We have a long wait in front of us."

Draco's scowl deepened momentarily then he leaned against a tree and folded his arms across his chest. Snape simply stood in the shadows, his eyes trained on the hulk of the castle. Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione and they stayed as still as they could as the darkness grew. Finally they saw a small pinpoint of light emerge from the direction of the castle and approach the gates. When the light got closer they were relieved to see that it was Theodore Nott. The Slytherin stopped just inside the gates and looked around warily.

"Draco?" he said quietly.

Draco slipped out of the shadows, Snape following partway.

"I'm here," Draco said, a hint of his old manner flowing into him.

"This is dangerous," Nott said nervously. "Slughorn won't notice I'm gone but the hallways are being patrolled by the teachers this year."

"They didn't see you leave, did they?" Draco said with a sneer.

"Of course not," Nott replied archly. "It's Trelawney and Vector on at the moment. What do you want, Draco?"

"The Dark Lord wants you to join him," Draco said. "I'm to take you to him."

"I'm not joining him," Nott replied firmly.

"I didn't think you were a neutral," Draco said with a hint of surprise.

"I'm not," Nott replied flatly. "I've decided that Potter's the best bet in this fight."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "The Dark Lord's message was not a _request_, Nott."

"I don't care," Nott replied defiantly. "And there is nothing you can do about it."

Draco took a step forward and Nott gave ground with a wintry smile.

"You can't touch me here, Draco," he said with a smirk. "The wards have been altered. Death Eaters aren't allowed in anymore."

Draco stepped forward abruptly then was thrown backwards when he hit the wards and they flared and rejected him. Nott's smirk deepened.

"I told you the wards wouldn't let you in," he said harshly. "Tell your Master I'm not interested. I've found a better option."

With that the Slytherin turned on his heel and headed back for the castle. That was their cue; Harry threw the cloak off and stood as the teachers burst out of their hiding places. The teachers headed straight for Draco, wands out and curses flying as Draco ducked while Harry aimed a quick Stupefy at Snape, with Ron and Hermione echoing almost immediately.

But the Potions Master had obviously heard them when they stood and was no longer standing where he had been. He'd darted forward, eyeing the scene with blazing eyes.

"Get out of here, Draco," he yelled before taking off for Hogsmeade at a run.

Harry swore and took off after him, Ron and Hermione at his heels. They heard someone shout behind them but ignored it in favour of their prey. It was hard to follow him in the dark and even harder to try and cast any spells. The man's choice of clothing worked in his favour and he didn't stay on the main path for long. Very shortly they were chasing their former teacher through the back streets of Hogsmeade. They followed him around the back of several houses then lost him when he rounded the corner of the Hog's Head. They followed him around the corner and screeched to a halt as they faced the dead end that was the rear yard of the pub.

"Dammit!" Harry yelled. "Where'd he go?"

"He probably apparated out," Hermione said as she caught her breath. "I'm surprised he didn't do it earlier."

Harry snarled and kicked at an old box that was sitting near the slightly open back door. Ron walked over a placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Harry," he said urgently. "Moody'll have your hide if he finds you like this."

Harry drew in several deep breaths and he stomped around the yard then he took one final breath and managed to let his anger go with a gusty sigh.

"Dammit! We almost had him," he said with frustration.

"I know," Hermione replied soothingly.

"Come on, let's head back," Ron said. "Maybe the others got Draco."

Harry nodded and the trio headed back up towards the path that led to the castle. When they got to the gates they found four very frustrated teachers pacing back and forth.

"There you are!" Minerva said sharply. "Was that Severus?"

Harry nodded. "We lost him though. Apparated out." Harry paused and blinked as something occurred to him then he shook his head. "Did you get Draco?"

"No," Moody growled. "He used a portkey. Probably the one he intended to use to take Nott to Voldemort."

"I'd…hate to be Draco right now then," Ron said with a sardonic smile. "I'd reckon Voldemort won't be too pleased when he turns up minus Nott."

"Somehow I can view Mr Malfoy's troubles with great equanimity right at this moment," Minerva said tartly. "Come on. I think we should return."

Harry and his friends nodded and the group headed through the gates and up towards the school. Harry suddenly stopped when they got to the doors. The teachers continued in, unaware he had stopped, while Hermione and Ron stopped as well.

"I've left my cloak down there," Harry said with a groan. "I'd better get it."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Ron asked.

"Nah," Harry said idly. "It'll be right where we were hiding. You go in. I won't be long."

Ron looked a little dubious but finally turned and went inside with Hermione. Harry walked slowly back down to the gates. He was extremely frustrated that they'd not been able to get their hands on either Draco _or_ Snape. He was frustrated that Draco had portkeyed out before the teachers could get to him. They had been handicapped by the fact they hadn't wanted to _kill_ him, just capture him, so their spells hadn't been too harsh. And Draco always had been a slippery little ferret. And Snape's dark clothing had made it damn difficult to get a bead on him. They hadn't wanted an errant spell to go through a window and hurt someone innocent.

He walked out of the gate and over to where he, Ron and Hermione had waited. His cloak was lying on the ground and he picked it up and draped it over his arm. As he did so, the thought that had interrupted him earlier came back.

The back door of the pub had not only been partially open when they got in the yard_, it had been swinging closed._

He frowned as he thought about that. Had Snape ducked into the pub? Surely not. Aberforth was in there and he'd certainly have raised the alarm if Snape walked into the bar and they would surely have been informed if Snape was staying there. Maybe it was just the result of a startled patron ducking back inside when he saw Snape barrelling around the corner. But maybe Snape had gone in.

Harry stood still for a long moment as thoughts ran around his mind then in a sudden movement he threw the cloak over his head and strode towards Hogsmeade. He traced their route from earlier and ended up in the back yard of the Hog's Head.

The back door was still slightly ajar and Harry gently pushed it open and looked in. He gasped and nearly fell backwards when he saw Snape start to walk down calmly the stairs. He caught himself on the doorway and quickly ducked inside, narrowly avoiding the Potions Master when the man came over and shut the door. As he watched in shock, Snape pressed on a small section of wood near the lantern and a door opposite the stairs opened up.

Snape suddenly froze and spun around and Harry darted up the stairs as quietly as possible, silently thanking Moody for teaching them how to do this. He ducked around the wall at the top of the stairs then peered back around. That had been close; Snape had always seemed to know when he was using his cloak. He saw the older man look around suspiciously for a moment then duck through the doorway, closing the door firmly behind him. Harry waited for a few minutes then crept down the stairs. He paused at the bottom for a long moment then carefully reached out, feeling along the wall until he found the indentation Snape had pushed.

He hesitated for another moment then made up his mind. Snape was clearly staying at the Hog's Head. Aberforth _must_ know about this yet he'd said nothing. Harry was determined to find out why. Was Aberforth a traitor?

He pushed the indentation and the door swung open silently. He slid through the door and closed it quietly behind him then he crept down the stairs. There was another door at the bottom but it was thankfully standing half open. He slid through this door and stared in utter shock at the scene in front of him.

"Holy _shit_!" he yelled, reverting to a Muggle idiom he'd heard Dudley using more than once as he pulled off his invisibility cloak.

Snape and Dumbledore froze as Harry suddenly appeared in the doorway, the cloak fluttering to the floor, and for one long frozen moment there was silence. Then Harry's breathing got faster and his face started to go red as his stunned gaze fixed on the Headmaster.

"You're alive?" he whispered. "You're really alive?"

"Yes, dear boy," Albus said softly, tears standing in his eyes.

Harry quivered where he was standing for a moment then he threw himself at Dumbledore. The Headmaster's arms wrapped around Harry gratefully but the young man wasn't hugging him back. He was pounding on the old man's chest, his voice coming out in incoherent gasps that soon began to make sense as Dumbledore held him tighter.

"You're alive! You're alive! How could you?" Harry gasped out as tears flowed hot and fast down his face. Slowly his fists stopped pounding into Dumbledore's chest and he gripped the old man's robes tightly as he collapsed into choking sobs.

Throughout all of this Dumbledore had not moved. He merely held Harry tightly and when Harry's sobs started he began to rub the young man's back soothingly. He looked over to where Severus was watching them impassively and raised an eyebrow. Severus nodded and glided over to the table on one side of the room. He picked up a potion bottle and poured some of the contents into a goblet before walking over to the Headmaster. Dumbledore took the goblet and pulled away from Harry slightly.

"Here you are, dear boy," he said gently as he shifted Harry around. "Drink this down."

Harry obediently drank the calming potion and his tears began to trail off. He took a few deep breaths and got himself under some tenuous control. Dumbledore took the goblet back and handed it to Severus. He then guided Harry to one of the armchairs. Once he had Harry sitting, he sat down himself and Snape joined them.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and looked at Dumbledore accusingly. "_Why_?" he asked hoarsely, anger, confusion and desperation lingering around the edges of his voice.

"It was necessary," Dumbledore said soothingly. "Professor Snape was caught in a dreadful situation and it became necessary for me to die."

Harry gaze flickered over to the Potions Master briefly. "What situation?" he demanded.

"He does not need to know," Severus said sharply.

"Yes, I do," Harry said angrily. "I've spent the last couple of months thinking that the Headmaster's death was partly _my fault_! I've been thrown into the deep end as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix and left with the task of finding and destroying those damn Horcruxes! I think I'm owed a _bloody explanation!_"

Harry was quivering with anger by the time he finished speaking and tears were standing in his eyes again. Power shimmered briefly around him causing the Trinity symbol at his throat to flash and glow and though Harry did not seem to notice this, Severus and Albus certainly did.

Albus held up one hand, his eyes reflecting his sorrow at Harry's angry confession. "Be calm, dear boy. I believe you are owed an explanation but this is something rather personal for Professor Snape."

Harry shifted his glare to the Potions Master and found the man glaring back. He almost flinched back but then he remembered what Moody had said to him during training and how Arthur had reacted when he'd taken the role of leader of the Order at Bill's wedding. So instead of that flinch he straightened his shoulders, let the anger go as much as he could and stared at Snape with the sober and stern look of a commander demanding the answers he needs.

Snape seemed startled by this new attitude and he looked over at Dumbledore.

"What was the situation?" Harry asked in a tone of command, drawing Snape's attention again. When Harry saw the expression on the Potion Master's face, he snorted. "I'm the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, Professor. So, technically, you work for me now."

Severus scowled as Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "The Headmaster is the leader of the Order of the Pheonix," Snape said sharply.

"The Headmaster is, to all intents and purposes, dead," Harry replied flatly. "I saw the body. I was at the funeral. I got lumped with the responsibility of _finishing_ this whole damn thing. _I_ am the leader of the Order. _What was the situation_?"

Snape's head reared back and anger and something more indefinable flared in his eyes. "Following in your father's arrogant footsteps," he sneered.

Anger flared in Harry momentarily before he shoved it mercilessly down. "I am _not_ my father," he said in a soft, dangerous voice. "If you wish to nurse a twenty year old grudge against a dead man, by all means, be my guest. But _I_ have more important things to do right now than pander to your temper tantrums. Now I want to know what the situation was that meant that I had to spend the last few months feeling guilty, overwhelmed, angry, lost and completely out of my depth!"

Snape stared at Harry darkly for a long moment as Dumbledore watched. The Headmaster had wisely stayed out of this confrontation. It was past time that these two sorted things out and now that Harry stood before his former teacher as an equal and not a student, he felt that they might just have a chance.

Finally Snape snorted and leaned back in his chair. "Moody actually managed to teach you something, did he?"

Harry gaped at his former teacher. "What?" he stammered then he gritted his teeth. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Severus," Dumbledore chided gently. "Harry has received a very nasty shock and does deserve a few explanations."

"It's got something to do with an Unbreakable Vow, doesn't it?" Harry said flatly, deciding to try and spark a few confessions.

Snape hissed. "How did you know?" he demanded.

"I overheard you talking to Draco," Harry stated. "It was the night of Slughorn's party. The one Draco crashed. What was it about?"

Snape glared at him for a moment. "I was to aid Draco in his task, protect him as best as I could and if he failed at his task, to carry it out myself."

Harry stared at him blankly for a moment then he swallowed hard. "Draco's task was to kill Professor Dumbledore, wasn't it?" he asked shakily.

Snape nodded once but remained silent.

"An Unbreakable Vow can only be fulfilled by completing the task with which it is set," Dumbledore said quietly. "There is no way of circumventing that."

"But you did it anyway," Harry observed. "How?"

"Have you heard of the Simulacrum spell?" Dumbledore asked. When Harry shook his head, the Headmaster continued. "It is a very ancient spell, once thought lost. I found it detailed in a book at Grimmauld Place just before Christmas last year and with it, my solution to Professor Snape's problem. When we arrived back at Hogwarts, I waited until you had turned to go and were as well hidden as possible under your invisibility cloak then I cast the full body bind on you. I do apologise for that, dear boy, but it was necessary. Then I cast the Simulacrum spell." He cocked his head to one side and his eyes twinkled. "The timing was terribly tight. I had barely managed to put my wand in the hand of my Simulacrum and secrete myself away when young Mr Malfoy came bursting out."

"You knew he was coming?" Harry asked, his shock and anger banked momentarily by the Headmaster's explanation.

"No but I suspected _someone_ would be coming," Dumbledore explained. "Our return was not as secretive as I would have liked and I had suspected for some time that there was an informer in Hogsmeade."

Harry nodded slowly. "So…"

"So why did I drag things out?" Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded again. "I wanted to give Professor Snape time to get there. I knew that Draco would not be able to kill me. That young man is capable of many things but he has not yet reached the point mentally and emotionally where he could easily kill someone. I sincerely hope he _never_ reaches that point."

"It was a hell of a risk," Harry pointed out, ignoring the comments about Draco.

"Yes, it was," Dumbledore said. "But a good risk, I felt. My only real worry was that young Draco's compatriots would try and…_help_ him."

Harry frowned. "How come they didn't know that they were facing a…fake?"

"It has much to do with the nature of the Simulacrum spell," the Headmaster explained. "You have to remain within a reasonably close distance in order to control the Simulacrum. The closer you are the more realistic the copy is. As close as I was, it was a near perfect replica, right down to having a nearly identical magical signature."

"That is how we were able to fool the Unbreakable Vow," Snape said in a neutral tone. "As the replica was near perfect and I was able to control my mind enough to convince myself it _was_ the Headmaster, the Vow was completed with his apparent…death."

Harry thought about that for a moment then something that Ron and Hermione had spoken of came back to him. "That's why you pleaded with Snape, isn't it?" he asked the Headmaster.

"Professor Snape, Harry, and yes," Dumbledore replied. "He knew of my plans for the Simulacrum and I knew that if I did something so unusual as to plead with him, he would know that what _appeared_ to me…wasn't."

"He's not my teacher anymore," Harry said flatly then his expression became tight. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Harry, do forgive me for that piece of cruelty," Dumbledore said with a sad, concerned look on his face. "But it was important that _no one_ knew that I survived. Your reactions had to be perfect and I could not take the risk that you would inadvertently give something away."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because it has gained us something we never had before," Dumbledore explained. "Professor Snape is now Voldemort's most trusted Death Eater. He is close enough to find out all sorts of information."

"The Horcruxes," Harry said in sudden understanding.

"Indeed," Dumbledore replied. "Though I've heard you've made some inroads yourself."

Harry shrugged. "Sort of." He paused. "The locket was a fake. Did you know?"

"Only when Aberforth told me," Albus replied. "That was…unexpected. But I understand you found it."

Harry nodded. "It was Regulus Black who took the original. He must have found out about the locket and what it was after he joined the Death Eaters. He went got it and brought it back to Grimmauld Place. Kreacher was hiding it because Regulus had asked him to keep it safe."

"And you have destroyed it."

"How did you know…oh, Aberforth," Harry replied. "Yeah, but there was a wildfire event that got away from me. I burnt my hands. Apparently I earthed the magic but I've got no idea how I did it."

"Aberforth will be able to answer those questions for you and teach you," Albus said soothingly. "The soul fragment was destroyed by the wildfire event, I assume?"

"That's what Hermione and Moo…Professor Moody said," Harry replied. Dumbledore gave him a curious look and Harry gave a wry half-smile. "We've been calling everyone by name or surname during the summer but we can't exactly call Minerva by name during the school year. I don't think she'd react well."

Albus chuckled. "Probably not. Well, you seem to have things under control. I'm very proud of you, dear boy."

Harry ducked his head. When he raised it his expression was a mix of anger, relief and confusion. "You're going stay dead, aren't you?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, I am, Harry. At least for now. Professor Snape is in a very good, if somewhat distasteful, position to gain the location of the last Horcruxes. If I were to reappear then he would be killed, probably very slowly and painfully."

Harry's hand clenched into fists as he looked over at the Potions Master. "You _tortured_ those people on my birthday. She was a _Second Year_!"

"Do you honestly believe I had a choice?" Snape said icily.

Harry leapt to his feet and started pacing angrily in front of the fireplace. He was desperately trying to shove his anger back into its box. Moody had pointed out to him many times that anger stopped you from thinking clearly and right now that's exactly what he needed to do. Everything the Headmaster said had made sense and he had to admit that Snape _was_ in a good position to find some information that he desperately needed.

He whirled around to face the two men. "So I'm just supposed to forget everything that he's done to and said to me and play nicely with him?"

"It is necessary, is it not?" Dumbledore said simply. "I'm not asking the two of you to become best friends. I am merely asking you to work together with a minimum of friction."

Harry whirled around again and stared into the fire. He took a deep breath and very slowly let it out before turning around and placing both hands on his hips. He was totally unaware of the impressive figure he cut standing like that in his duelling robes.

"I suppose you've got a point there," he said wryly to the Headmaster. "But if I can just act like a schoolboy one more time and say…I will if he does. I am not my father and I resent being treated as such."

Dumbledore chuckled and raised an eyebrow at Severus. The Potions Master stared at Harry with an indecipherable expression for a long moment then stood.

He held out a hand. "Very well…Harry."

Harry blinked. He hadn't expected this and was inwardly chagrined for a moment that now he really _would_ have to play nicely with the older man. He gingerly took Snape's had and they shook on the agreement.

"Under the circumstances and as I am no longer your teacher, I believe you should call me Severus," Snape said reluctantly as he sat down again.

Harry sat down in his seat and nodded tentatively. This was a brave new world he was entering and he wasn't entirely sure if he was comfortable with it.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The newly minted and slightly uneasy truce lay between them for a moment before Harry gave Snape a curious look.

"Aberforth's been getting his information straight from you, hasn't he? All those Death Eater wannabes he supposedly overhears are just phantoms."

"It was a useful way of passing on information," Severus replied.

"So why didn't he tell us that you and I presume Draco are staying here?" Harry asked.

"Because he suspected that you and the Order would not exactly react rationally to that news," Albus replied.

Harry grimaced. "Good point. So what else is going on that I should know about?"

"Fenrir Greyback has brought his pack up to the Forbidden Forest," Snape said. "They have instructions to create as much havoc as they can. Their targets also include the centaurs and anything else in the Forest as well as any students that wander in."

"Will they be able to get through the wards?" Harry asked, looking worried. "Minerva's enhanced them as you saw tonight. Will they keep Greyback out?"

Snape shook his head. "I presume she and Filius have altered the wards to keep out anyone with the Dark Mark?" Harry nodded. "Fenrir and his pack do not bear the Dark Mark. I doubt they will be stopped by the wards."

Harry grimaced and rubbed his shoulder where Greyback had gnawed on it. "Dammit. When were you planning on getting _that_ information to me?"

"As soon as we worked out a plausible way to do it," Albus replied. "That was proving somewhat difficult."

Harry thought about that for a moment then snorted with wry amusement as he continued to absently rub his shoulder. "Good point."

"Harry? What is wrong with your shoulder?" Dumbledore asked with a worried frown.

Harry blinked and looked down at his hand before snatching it back and firmly placing it on the arm of the chair. "Er, Aberforth didn't tell you I got hurt by Greyback at the wedding?"

"He mentioned you were injured but not the specifics of it," Dumbledore replied.

Harry shrugged. "Greyback bit my shoulder a couple of times. The scars make it look like he chewed on it but it's all healed well. Thankfully this transformation that Greyback's gone through also means that he can't pass on his lycanthropy to anyone."

Both Dumbledore and Snape looked a little shocked though whether that was at the news of the actual injury or Harry's blasé response was unclear.

"So what were you and Draco meant to be doing other than trying to subvert Nott?" Harry asked, ignoring the looks.

"Be seen and create trouble. Try and draw you, any of the teachers or Order members out of Hogwarts," Snape replied then he gave Harry a curious look. "Has Mr Nott truly joined with you?"

Harry nodded and smirked. "Yup! He made that clear on the train. He's a prefect this year." He snorted. "Not that that's much of a surprise. He and Daphne Greengrass were the only Seventh Year Slytherins to return to Hogwarts this year. When were you planning on telling me about your plans?"

"I believe the answer to that is the same as the one about Greyback," Snape replied. "Surely you suspected Aberforth's loyalties when you entered and saw me?"

"Yeah, I did," Harry said slowly then he nodded "You're right. There's no way he could have told us about you and Draco and not had us suspect him of being a traitor."

"Harry? If I may ask? Why did you specifically point out the fact that I pleaded with Severus?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.

Harry looked at him with surprise. "Um, it's something Hermione was talking about. She thought it was odd and a little out of character for you to do that." He gave a laugh. "She was right."

"Do you plan to tell her?" the Headmaster asked.

Harry nodded firmly. "Her and Ron. They can be trusted and I'll need to tell them. I don't know _how_ you were planning on getting the information about the Horcruxes to me since Aberforth couldn't have used the overheard conversation trick for something like _that_. This way he can just tell me, I can tell Ron and Hermione and no one else needs to be any wiser as to where the information's come from."

"Why tell them at all?" Snape asked sharply.

Harry tapped the Trinity symbol at his throat. "This is why. The Trinity. Me, Ron, Hermione."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, so Aberforth was right about that. Very well, I shall endeavour to talk up the Trinity with the Dark Lord if that is the path you wish to take."

Harry nodded. "Yes. Let him know that just because the Headmaster is dead, it doesn't mean he can get away with anything. We'll make him pay a heavy price as much as we can."

Dumbledore smiled at Harry. "I must admit, you are taking this much better than I thought you would."

Harry gave a wry smile. "If I'd found out about a month ago you probably would have got the reaction you were expecting. Moody's been teaching me how to control my temper. My little…spot of idiocy the night we went to the Gaunts' house made that a priority."

"Yes, Aberforth mentioned that but I hadn't expected the results to be so impressive," Dumbledore replied. "I was…disappointed with your reaction that night."

"How did…" Harry's voice trailed off and he shot a glance at Snape. "Oh yeah. Well, do you blame me for being angry? As far as _I_ knew, you were dead because _he_ murdered you. He was a traitor and a Death Eater."

"You deliberately exposed yourself," Dumbledore chided. "And was it really necessary to try and provoke in such a way?"

Harry gave an exasperated sigh. "Headmaster, I've already had the lecture about this from Moody. I was trying to pick a fight. I was angry and I wasn't thinking clearly. It was a mistake. It won't happen again."

They were interrupted by the sound of someone hurrying down the stairs. Aberforth burst into the room and froze when he saw Harry sitting by the fire.

"Well," Aberforth said, looking stunned. He then collected himself with admirable speed. "This is unexpected."

"Yes, I've found out your little secret, Abe, and we'll be talking about this later," Harry said dryly.

Amusement bloomed in the both Albus and Snape's eyes as Aberforth managed to look both startled and sheepish.

"What did you need, Aberforth?" Albus asked gently.

Aberforth raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Ron and Hermione are in the bar. They're looking for you and are a touch worried. They were wondering if I'd seen you. I think they were worried that Severus had got hold of you." He raised an amused eyebrow.

"Oops," Harry said with a sheepish look. "I told them I'd be right back. Bring them down here, Abe."

There were indrawn breaths from the three men and Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm going to be telling them anyway. They might as well come down here then they'll believe me right away and you lot can answer any questions they might have."

Albus chuckled and waved a hand at his brother. "Bring them down, Aberforth. Harry does have a valid point."

Aberforth shook his head then disappeared up the stairs. He was back a moment later with Ron and Hermione in tow. The two students looked around curiously as they walked into the room then came to a sudden halt as they saw the Headmaster.

"Headmaster?" Hermione said weakly as Aberforth disappeared back upstairs.

Ron's attention had been caught by something else and he stared at Snape with shock, surprise and anger. "What the hell is going on here?" he said sharply.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he briefly explained what he and Snape had done and what was currently going on then he drew up two more armchairs and gestured for Ron and Hermione to sit. The two students collapsed into the armchairs weakly and stared at the Headmaster.

Hermione was the first to collect herself and she looked at Ron with a hint of smug satisfaction. "I told there was something odd about what happened."

This seemed to settle Ron down and the red haired boy rolled his eyes and groaned. "Please don't start that again, Hermione."

"But I was right," Hermione persisted with a hint of amusement.

Ron threw his hands in the air. "Fine! You were right! Are you happy?"

Hermione settled herself into the armchair and smiled brightly. "Delirious."

Harry snorted with amusement. "If you two start snogging then I'm leaving."

"Not in the middle of the Headmaster's rooms, Harry," Hermione said with mock-disapproval. "That would be rude."

"Ah, of course," Harry said dryly. "You two are taking this well."

"We're taking our lead from you," Ron replied. "If you're calm then it must all be legitimate." He looked around the room. "Guess Moody's training has worked though. The room looks remarkably intact."

"Ha, ha," Harry said flatly. "If you keep that up, I'm sure I could figure out how I blew up Aunt Marge. You'd look good floating back to the school like a balloon."

Ron snickered while Hermione rolled her eyes. She then eyed Dumbledore and Snape archly.

"Is Draco involved in all of this?" she asked abruptly.

"No, Miss Granger," Snape replied coolly. "Draco's loyalties very much lie with the Dark Lord."

"He always was stupid," Rom muttered then he gave the Potions Master a sharp look. "He portkeyed out during tonight's little confrontation. Where would he end up?"

"At Riddle Manor," Snape replied.

Harry snorted. "Oh, that's going to go down well. Not only didn't he bring along Nott but he got himself involved in a confrontation and lost." He gave Snape a curious look. "Shouldn't you be there as well?"

"I have a certain amount of leeway," Snape replied calmly. "Certainly I shall have to leave soon but I can merely say I was trying to avoid you and the rest of the Order and I was ensuring I did not lead you to the Manor."

Harry stared at Snape for a moment longer; he knew from the visions he used to have that Draco and Snape were likely to be punished for their failure then he shivered. He didn't envy them one jot.

"Have you managed to get close enough to find out anything about the Horcruxes?" he asked instead.

Snape shook his head. "Not as yet. The Dark Lord has taken me into his confidence regarding the existence of the Horcruxes but no further."

"You're poisoning Nagini, aren't you?" Hermione asked warily.

Snape nodded. "That is more of a long term project."

"But you're sure you're going to succeed?" Harry asked.

Snape sneered. "Of course, Mr Potter."

Harry didn't react to the tone of voice though Ron bridled and Hermione gave the Potions Master a sharp look.

"Then we'll leave Nagini to you," he said calmly. "I take it you know how to destroy the soul fragment after Nagini dies?"

"Of course," Snape said irritably.

Again Harry ignored Snape's tone of voice except for a brief roll of his eyes. "That just leaves Hufflepuff's cup and the Ravenclaw artefact then."

"Did you still want to try the orphanage?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "Tonks and Kingsley are trying to track down those three children. They've got some leads and think they'll have answers for us in a month or two." He poked over at the Headmaster. "Am I on the right track here?"

"I had intended for the two of us to make an expedition to the orphanage this year," Dumbledore said with approval. "It was a place of great importance for Tom Riddle. While he never liked it or the people in it, it was nevertheless significant."

"Would it still be an orphanage after all this time?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Unknown," Dumbledore replied. "Your decision to talk to the three children most directly affected by Tom is an intriguing one. What do you hope to gain from it?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know really. I guess I'm just fishing for information. That's if they even remember him after all these years. They'd have to be…what? In their seventies at least. And they're Muggles so that is a real issue."

"You might be surprised at what they could remember," Dumbledore said quietly. "Tom Riddle had a profound effect on them."

Harry nodded slowly as he remembered what Dumbledore had been told by the orphanage's Matron about the young Tom Riddle's actions. "I was hoping they might remember if Riddle liked to hide in certain areas of the orphanage or something along those lines."

"An interesting idea," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Why do you think he had a hiding place?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair and looked down at the floor. "It's…been mentioned more than once that…Tom Riddle and I have a bit in common. Our parents died when we were babies, we grew up…unwanted, we're both Parselmouths…"

"And he's a raving nutter and you're…well, you," Ron interrupted with a frown. "Harry, you're nothing like Voldemort."

"Not Voldemort," Harry said uneasily. "But I can see the similarities with Tom Riddle." He sighed. "Riddle wasn't always like Voldemort, Ron. I mean, he didn't seem like he was a very nice kid but he wasn't a megalomaniac at eleven either." He frowned down at the carpet again. "I could have ended up like that, Ron. Maybe if things had been different. I don't know."

"I think you're wrong," Hermione said firmly. "I don't really come down on either side of the nature versus nurture debate but I do know that you've got a good heart, Harry. If years of living with those horrible Dursleys didn't make you uncaring then I doubt anything would." Her gaze sharpened. "Tell me, what was their reaction when you said you were leaving almost immediately?"

Harry froze then sighed. "Uncle Vernon was thrilled," he said reluctantly. "He even drove me into London without complaining."

"Did he say goodbye when he dropped you off?" Hermione asked challengingly. "Or even wish you well?"

Harry looked even more uncomfortable and flicked glances at Snape and the Headmaster, both of whom were watching this with confusion and dawning realisation.

"He didn't say anything," Harry admitted. "He just drove off."

"See what I mean," Hermione said with satisfaction. "That is something you would never do, Harry. In spite of having the worst examples of parenting in front of you for ten years, you've turned out to be a wonderful person."

Harry shrugged diffidently. "I just figured if the Dursleys did something one way then I should do the same thing a different way. Any way _other_ than their way seemed like a good idea. But that's beside the point. I _know_ I haven't ended up like Riddle, Hermione, but the point is I could see how it _might_ have happened." He shrugged and gave a small grin. "Besides for the last six years I've had the Weasleys as my family. How could I go wrong with that example in front of me?"

His smile broadened and Hermione and Ron grinned as well; they both remembered Bill's speech from the wedding and Harry's reaction to being named an honourary little brother.

"Well, that 'honourary' won't last long after Voldemort's death if Mum's got anything to do with it," Ron said with a roll of his eyes.

"Ron, if your Mum's got anything to do with it, _my_ 'honourary' won't last long after Voldemort death either," Hermione said dryly, causing Ron to blush furiously, his ears going a bright red. "That mother of yours has visions of creating a dynasty and taking over the world."

Ron stammered a bit. "I don't think Dad would let her do that," he said weakly, still flustered by Hermione's first statement.

Hermione snorted. "Your Dad eggs her on," she said tartly. "He just does it subtly so that none of us notice what he's doing and therefore don't blame him. He _likes_ the idea of Weasleys taking over the world."

"It's better than Malfoys taking over the world," Harry observed with a grin. "And that's Weasleys and _Potters_ taking over the world, Hermione. I kind of like the idea of a big family."

"Does Ginny?" Hermione asked archly.

Harry cocked his head to one side thoughtfully. "I don't know. I'll ask her next time I see her."

Hermione snorted with laughter. "Oh, I so want to be a fly on the wall for _that_ conversation."

"I don't," Ron muttered with a pained expression. "Harry, mate, she's…"

"Your sister," Harry finished for him. "I know, Ron, I know. _Anyway_, we're getting sidetracked here. I used to have a few hiding places that I liked and I was hoping that Riddle might have had some as well. It might give us a starting point for our search when we go to the orphanage."

"Interesting," Dumbledore mused, choosing to leave the other revelations alone for the moment. "And a good idea. I see that I need not worry about your ability to handle this task."

Harry gave him a flat look then turned to Ron and Hermione. "How long do we have before we're missed?"

Hermione glanced at her watch. "We told Professor McGonagall that we were going to wait for you. The teachers all went up to their own rooms. I doubt she'll check on us."

"_She_ won't but what about Moody or Remus?" Harry said with an arched eyebrow.

Hermione grimaced. "Remus trusts enough to not check but you've got a point about Moody. He's going to want to speak to you anyway. We'd better get back. It's enough of a risk that _we_ know the truth. I don't think any of the others need to find out. There's an old saying that the risk of a secret being spilled is _inversely_ proportional to the number of people who know it."

"In English, Hermione?" Ron asked with a pained look.

"Loose lips sink ships," Hermione replied tartly. "We can't talk about this at school, Ron."

"Yes, we can. Muffliato," Harry said abruptly then he looked over at Snape. "Unless there's a problem with that spell."

Snape scowled at the reminder that Harry had used the spell he had spent so much time and effort developing. "It is acceptable for your purposes," he said stiffly. "It has no counter and very few know of it."

Ron and Hermione looked surprised by this response but chose not ask questions when they saw Harry nod calmly in acceptance.

"We can use the Room of Requirement and combine it with Muffliato then," Harry said then he gave the Headmaster an arch look. "Or I suppose we could always just come down here."

Albus chose to ignore the undertones of that statement and take it on its merits. "I would love to have your company," he said with a gentle smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

Harry blinked then his expression softened as he realised that Dumbledore must be incredibly bored stuck here in this room, unable to leave without risking more lives than just his own.

"It might be safer talking about it here and it would certainly be useful getting the Headmaster's thoughts as well," Hermione said quickly, having also seen the slightly wistful expression on Dumbledore' face.

"People are going to get suspicious if we keep disappearing at the time," Ron warned. "You two are Head Boy and Girl and I'm a prefect. We have do occasionally have to be where we're supposed to be. The Slytherins at the school might be neutral or on our side but not everyone that follows Voldemort was a Slytherin."

Snape gave Ron a look of disdainful surprise that the young man caught. He glared at the Potions Master before saying, "What? Did you think Harry's the only one Moody's been training? He's been training all of us in various ways and it's been working."

"Ron's got a point," Hermione admitted reluctantly. "We can't be seen sneaking out of the castle all the time."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Who says we'll be seen," he said, gesturing towards the cloak that still lay crumpled on the ground near the door. "It's not like we have to sneak all the way down to the gates. We can use the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack or…" His voice trailed off and he gave Snape and Dumbledore speculative glances before shrugging. "Or we can use the tunnel that leads to Honeydukes."

Dumbledore looked amused at that admission and his eyes twinkled madly while Snape raised a very arch eyebrow. Harry shot them both a very cheeky grin before looking over at Ron and Hermione.

"Well, if we come at night when we're not likely to be missed as much it should work," Hermione said dubiously.

"Good," Harry said bounding to his feet and walking over to pick up his cloak. "We'd better get back." He draped the cloak over his arm then hesitated and looked back at the Headmaster soberly. "Professor, I do understand why you did what you did; I just wish you'd chosen a different path. You have _no_ idea what the last few months have been like for me."

Dumbledore closed his eyes momentarily. When they opened again Harry, Ron and Hermione could see the sorrow and apology in them.

"I do apologise, dear boy," Dumbledore said gently. "But there was no other way. The only way to avoid what happened was to leave you behind that night and I fear what might have happened in that cave had you not been there. The strength and courage you showed that night shone like a beacon for me, Harry. I truly believe I would have failed had you not been there. Unfortunately that meant that you were an unwilling witness to what happened later. I had hoped that Draco would not move so quickly. I had hoped to have a fraction more control of the situation."

Harry swallowed hard then nodded briefly before looking over to Snape. "How long do you think it will take for you to get close enough to find out about the Horcruxes, sir?"

Severus raised a curious eyebrow at the 'sir' Harry had used. "Unknown. The Dark Lord will be displeased with our failure tonight which will cause an inevitable set back. I shall likely have to permit Nagini to recover somewhat to restore my position in his good graces. I shall inform Aberforth when I have more information."

Harry nodded. "Thank you."

With that Harry and his friends gave brief nods of goodbye to the two older men and climbed back up the stairs before disappearing into the night.

"Well, that was unexpected but rather worthwhile," Dumbledore said after several minutes.

"You are relieved," Severus said bluntly.

"Yes, I am," the Headmaster replied. "My greatest regret about that night was that Harry had to witness all of that. After everything he has gone through that was a terrible cruelty to be inflicted upon him."

"He seems to have handled it well enough," Severus said irritably.

"Try telling Remus that," Albus said archly. "Still you are right in many ways. He has taken on the role of leader with admirable aplomb. He has perhaps not done things the way I might have but that is to be expected. And Fawkes keeps a close eye on him."

"Fawkes?" Severus said harshly. "You mean the phoenix Aberforth mentioned? The one that appeared for Potter? But how? Surely Potter would have recognised him immediately."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Fawkes is quite capable of disguising himself when necessary, Severus. And I felt it prudent to provide Harry with someone who was canny enough to realise when he might need comfort or help that perhaps others could not provide. He has always been comforted by Fawkes' presence before."

"Do you intend to tell him about that?" Severus asked archly.

Dumbledore chuckled again. "I will eventually but I shall also stress to him that this was Fawkes' decision. That wretched bird can be rather strong-willed at times. Personally I believe that this is his revenge for me asking him to perform that melodramatic mourning act after my death."

Severus gave his mentor a look of exasperated amusement then stood. "I must go, Albus. I have delayed returning to the Dark Lord long enough. Any longer and I would not be able to explain it adequately."

Dumbledore immediately sobered. "Very well, my boy. I shall not tell you to be careful, I know that this must play out as it will. What do you intend to tell him?"

"That Potter and his Trinity were there and chased me down," Severus replied as he pulled his cloak around his shoulders. "That I had to work hard to evade them."

Dumbledore nodded then watched with worry and concern as Snape marched up the stairs.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't speak until they were back inside the Hogwarts wards.

"Well, that was interesting," Ron said lightly. "Exactly how angry were you when you first walked in?"

"I don't know quite whether you'd call it anger," Harry said slowly. "It was more disbelief and then a mix of anger, relief, joy and confusion."

"I can't believe they actually managed to pull it off," Hermione said wonderingly.

"They won't have if we talk about this too much or in the wrong place," Harry warned.

"What was the deal with Snape?" Ron asked. "He was acting weird."

"We declared a truce of sorts," Harry replied flatly. "Motivated by the fact that he's in the best position to find out about the Horcruxes and I'm the leader of the Order and he works for me."

"Oh, he must have _loved_ hearing that," Ron said with a grin.

"He didn't like it too much," Harry agreed. "But when Professor Dumbledore didn't disagree, he kind of had to accept it." He shrugged. "We have to work together, we don't have to be best friends."

"That's our job," Hermione said with a smile.

Ron and Harry laughed and they made the rest of their journey up to the castle in companionable silence. Once they got in they headed up to Gryffindor Tower where they weren't overly surprised to find Moody waiting for them.

"That took a bit longer than I expected," the ex-Auror growled. "What happened?"

"I had a thought when I got back down to where I left my cloak," Harry replied glibly. "We lost Snape outside the back entrance of the Hog's Head and I remembered that the door had been slightly open. I went down to speak to Aberforth and find out if maybe anyone inside the pub saw what he did. I thought it might be a good idea to get some confirmation."

Moody grunted. "And?"

"Nothing," Harry grumbled. "Aberforth said the door was probably open because some of his clientele like to make discrete entrances and exits. Then we just got chatting about what happened with the Horcrux and the training he's going to be doing with me. That's when Hermione and Ron caught up with me. We chatted for a bit longer then the three of us came back."

Moody grunted. "Pity no one saw anything. I'll see the three of you tomorrow after classes are over and we'll dissect what happened tonight."

Harry and his friends nodded and watched at Moody stumped his way out of the room. Once he'd gone, Ron mimicked wiping his brow.

"Good thinking, Harry!" he said with relief.

"It's close enough to what actually happened that we should get away with it," Harry replied.

"Shouldn't you tell Aberforth the story you've spun," Hermione asked urgently. "I know he's quick on his feet but Moody's observant. He'd probably be able to pick up any hesitation on Aberforth's behalf."

"I'll get Casimir to take a message down to Abe tonight," Harry replied. "And good thinking."

With that Harry headed upstairs, leaving Ron and Hermione to say a more personal good night. He found Casimir perched in the window near his bed and he gently stroked the phoenix's head.

"Can you take a message to Aberforth for me?" Harry asked as he pulled some parchment and ink out of his bag.

Casimir warbled an affirmative and Harry quickly jotted down the information Aberforth would need to keep their stories straight. He then folded the note and held it out to the phoenix. Casimir took the note in his beak and disappeared in a flash of fire. Harry gave a deep sigh and slowly changed into his pyjamas before collapsing into bed and pulling the curtains closed. He had a lot to think about after the events of tonight but as he slipped into sleep he realised they'd have to wait until the morning.

Snape apparated into the front garden of Riddle Manor and stared up at the dark hulking house for a long moment. He drew in a deep breath before wrapping his cloak around himself more firmly. This was likely to be ugly and very, very unpleasant. He stalked into the manor and made his way through the darkened corridors to the large room Voldemort used for meetings. He pushed open the doors and found the Dark Lord pacing in front of the throne-like chair at one end. Draco lay curled up on the floor, still and silent, and Severus could only hope the boy was still alive.

Severus paced evenly up to his Lord and fell to his knees. "My Lord," he said, inclining his head.

"Tell me, Severus, were you any more successful than this useless piece of garbage in carrying out my orders?" Voldemort hissed.

"The Order were waiting for us," Severus replied as calmly as he could. "Clearly Nott informed someone as to the contents of my note. There were four teachers and Potter's Trinity waiting for us."

Voldemort spun around and eyed Severus narrowly. "Trinity? What is this Trinity?"

"It is something of which I have been hearing whispers," Snape replied. "Particularly these last few days at the Hog's Head. It is a thing of Potter's creation and consists of himself, the youngest Weasley boy and the Mudblood, Granger. The rumours say they have been extensively trained in combating the Dark Arts by Alastor Moody."

"And are the rumours true?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "They were the ones who pursued me while the teachers went after Draco. The three of them were…persistent. And powerful. The hexes they threw at me…were formidable."

"I see they did not manage to _hit_ you," Voldemort said in a voice full of silky implication.

"It was dark and I was dressed to advantage for the conditions," Severus explained. "I was also moving too quickly and through the back street of Hogsmeade. They were not able to aim properly. It took some time to lose them and then I wanted to make very sure they had not hit me with a tracing spell of any kind. That is the reason for my delay, my Lord. I had no wish to lead them here when I was not sure that you were ready for them."

"Why did you or Draco not bring Nott to me?" Voldemort demanded. "Surely there was time to grab him before those meddlesome Order fools got to either of you."

"There may have been but we were hampered by the fact that Nott remained within the Hogwarts wards and it appears McGonagall has altered those wards to keep out anyone wearing the Dark Mark," Severus said, wondering why the Dark Lord had seemingly ignored the information about the Trinity.

Voldemort snarled. "You were meant to coax him out if necessary."

Severus took a deep breath before continuing. "He said that he had no intention of joining the Death Eaters, my Lord. He said that he had chosen to follow Potter."

"So Draco was telling the truth," Voldemort said, his eyes narrowing. "No matter what the circumstances, you have failed me, Severus. _Crucio_!"

The spell hit Severus like an axe blow and he knew immediately how angry the Dark Lord was from the strength of the pain that flowed through him. His body crumpled swiftly under the weight of the agony and he fell to the floor, thankfully not that hard a fall from his kneeling position. But shortly that was of little concern and all he could do was give in to the strangled screams that came from his usual partially failed attempts towards stoicism. He slumped and panted, his eyes closed and his body trembling violently, when the Cruciatus was finally ended and waited for his Lord's orders.

"Take the boy and return to Hogsmeade," Voldemort hissed angrily. "Tell Fenrir he and his pack are to be more aggressive in their attacks, particularly when the students are outside. And you will step up your attempts to lure Potter or one of the Order members out of Hogwarts."

"Yes, my Lord," Severus gasped out then he heard the sound of footsteps retreating and leaving the room.

When he felt able, he pushed himself back up onto his knees, coughing hoarsely as his body complained vociferously. He felt something wet his lips and swiped at them with the back of one hand. When he lowered that hand he was not surprised to see blood smeared on the back. The Cruciatus had been long and powerful. Just as well he had the potions he would need stored in his room and the Hog's Head.

He gave up any pretence of dignity in the now-empty room and crawled over to where Draco lay, rolling the unconscious boy onto his back.

"Draco," he said hoarsely, giving the boy a gentle shake.

The blond boy moaned and twitched slightly then his eyes fluttered open. Severus winced when he saw the unfocused look in them and he pulled at the boy's shoulder.

"Get up," he rasped.

Draco moaned again but Severus was relieved to see that the obedience that had been drilled into the boy still worked. He slowly pushed himself to his feet as Draco did the same then he grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him out of the room. He had to pause several times on the way out of the manor to rest on some occasions and to recover from coughing jags on other occasions. Each time he coughed, more blood appeared and he just hoped he could make it back to the Hog's Head before his body gave out entirely. Draco was awake enough to follow obediently but no more than that and Severus knew he'd have to apparate them both back to Hogsmeade. He winced at that thought; single apparition was going to be bad enough, side-along would leave him near collapse.

It took nearly an hour for him to stagger out of the manor with Draco in tow. Descending the stairs had been a particularly interesting form of torture and he'd nearly lost Draco when the boy had tripped halfway down. Once they had gotten past the anti-apparition wards, he let go of Draco's arm and collapsed to his knees again, coughing harshly then almost absently wiping the blood away. Severus barely acknowledged Draco falling to his knees beside him as a sudden realisation washed over him. There was no way in hell that he was going to be able to apparate himself, let alone Draco. That just left the emergency portkey he had always carried with him when he appeared before the Dark Lord. Thankfully Albus had had the foresight to alter its destination after his 'death'. The original destination had been the Headmaster's office, not a place he would like to end up right now. The new destination was the Shrieking Shack; a place deserted enough that no one was likely to notice his arrival but close enough to Hogsmeade to be useful.

He fumbled in his robes until his hand closed around the small bronze disc. He pulled it out and summoned his strength enough to reach for Draco's hand. He placed the disc in the boy's hand then placed his own hand on top before muttering, "Phoenix's Sanctuary."

The familiar pulling feel of the portkey was an agony in the wake of the Cruciatus and by the time he and Draco were deposited in the Shrieking Shack it was all he could do to hang on to consciousness. Draco had not even done that and the boy collapsed against him as soon as they arrived. Severus pushed the boy off him as the extra weight was about to make _him_ collapse as well then he dropped the bronze disc. He slumped down where he was kneeling as he tried to gather some strength together for this last stretch.

He felt himself nearly slip into sleep and drew himself slightly upright, inducing another coughing fit. As he wiped the blood away again, he realised that he didn't have a hop of getting Draco and himself to safety on his own and they didn't dare stay in the Shrieking Shack. But his options were limited. He had no intention of summoning Greyback or any of the pack, that one would just take advantage of their weakened state. Albus was out of the question; he could take the risk of the Headmaster being seen. And even the Headmaster's formidable abilities would not be able to hide everything should someone get truly curious. Aberforth was…a possibility except Severus had no safe way of contacting the man. The pub would be full at this hour of the night and he could not risk sending a message via patronus under those circumstances.

He slumped down again and sighed. Why is it life always seemed to throw these sorts of problems into his lap right when he was least able to deal with them?

Severus straightened himself as best as he was able. He then reluctantly pulled his wand out and raised it, concentrating hard on the message he wished to send and to whom he wished it to go then he murmured, "Expecto Patronum."

A silvery phoenix burst out of the end of his wand and flew through the wall of the Shack. He then pointed his wand at Draco and sent the boy into a deeper sleep before tucking it away and slumping down again to wait for the arrival of the help he had asked for.

Harry sat in the open window in the dorm and stared out into the night while gently stroking Casimir's feathers. The phoenix had returned earlier with Aberforth's amused thanks for the warning and the approved story of the night's events. Ron had come up shortly after Casimir returned and had climbed into bed after a yawned-interrupted goodnight. But Harry still felt a little too keyed up to sleep. The revelation that the Headmaster was still alive and Snape was not the traitor they had thought was still thrumming through his mind. In many ways he was glad of the training Moody had given him. While it had been difficult to listen to all the tripe that Moody had thrown out it had certainly been effective in helping him to control is often unruly temper. That had definitely come in handy tonight.

His first reaction on seeing both men had been to rage at them for lying to him and for forcing him to go through everything that had happened after Dumbledore's apparent death. But then a quiet thought had poked its way through the anger. Perhaps they had had no choice? It was this single idea that had led to him _not_ hexing anybody but instead throwing himself at the Headmaster like that.

He blushed a bit at the memory. He couldn't remember ever doing that to anyone ever before and was a bit surprised he'd done it now. He knew he'd gone a long way to repairing the relationship between himself and the Headmaster, one that _had_ been damaged after what happened in Fifth Year, but he'd never realised he'd felt that much of a connection to the older man. And Dumbledore's reaction had surprised him. Here he'd been, practically pummelling the older man and instead of pushing him away, Dumbledore had just held him and let him get the anger and distress out of his system.

_Held you like a father…or a grandfather_. The stray thought almost reverberated through his mind and Harry blinked. Not that he'd had much experience with either but the thought was…right. He'd seen the way Mr Weasley interacted with his sons and the way the Headmaster had held him tonight had had overtones of the same kind of affection.

His ponderings were interrupted by a flash of silver coming towards him and he almost instinctively drew his wand. As the flash of silver got closer, he recognised it as a Patronus of some kind and he lowered his wand. He was rather surprised when the silvery Patronus headed straight toward him and wondered who in the Order needed his help.

As the Patronus flew towards him, he raised an eyebrow as its shape became clear then wondered who in the Order had a phoenix Patronus. That question was answered a moment later when the silvery phoenix flew in the window and hovered in front of him. He gave a start as a voice reverberated through his mind. The voice was unusually hoarse and gravelly but clearly recognisable as Snape's.

"Potter. Come to the Shrieking Shack immediately. Need help. Snape"

As soon as the message finished, the phoenix vanished in a silver flash and Harry stared at where it had been for a moment. _Snape_ was asking for his help? And would a _please_ have killed him? The tone of the man's voice came back to him and he realised that under the hoarseness had been a thread of very real pain. Harry swore quietly as he grabbed his shoes, the Marauder's Map and invisibility cloak and headed towards the door. Snape would have had to report in to Voldemort and obviously the Dark Lord had not been happy with what had happened.

He quietly slipped down to the common room, pausing there to put on his shoes. Then he climbed out of the entrance hole, closing the door behind him and slinging the cloak around his head and shoulders as he headed down the corridor. He opened the Marauder's Map and used it to avoid the teacher's patrols, tucking it back into his pocket after he got out of the castle. He hesitated for a long moment then headed for the Whomping Willow. He raised an eyebrow when he found a long stick lying conveniently close to the tree and mentally vowed to ask Remus about that at some point. He then picked up the stick and used it to prod the small knot that stilled the violent tree. He then rushed forward and climbed down into the passageway, firmly keeping his thoughts away from the last time he was here.

He gave a sigh of relief when he finally climbed up into the Shack then he began a quick search for Snape. Once he'd established that they weren't downstairs, he headed up the rickety staircase and started searching upstairs. He finally found Snape and, to his surprise, Draco in the same room where the confrontation between Sirius, Remus, Peter and he and his friends had occurred.

His first thought when he walked in was that both Slytherins were dead then Snape coughed harshly and he leapt forward when the coughing action seemed likely to tip Snape over. He caught the older man before that could happen and gasped at the sight of the blood on Snape's lips.

"Si…Severus?" he began with open concern as he threw off his cloak.

"Don't be…melodramatic," Snape snarled half-heartedly.

"You're coughing up blood, Severus," Harry said firmly. "I don't think being a bit worried about that is melodramatic. What caused it?"

"Cruciatus," Snape grunted in reply. "Help me up."

Harry did so without comment, suddenly becoming very aware that if Snape was in so much pain that he was willing to not only _ask_ but _accept_ help from Harry Potter then it must be very bad indeed.

"I'm glad Vol…_He_ didn't feel the need to grace me with whatever happened to you and Draco," Harry muttered as he help Snape stand and lean against one wall. "What precisely do you need me to do?"

"Levitate Draco," Snape ordered as he coughed again, this time not even bothering to wipe away the blood. "I shall probably be able to make it back to the Hog's Head on my own but not with Draco in tow."

Harry nodded and picked up his cloak before pulling out his wand and deftly levitating the unconscious Draco. "How long were both of you under that it's this bad?"

"It is not the time but the intensity that has caused the damage," Snape rasped as he fumbled his way out of the room. "The Dark Lord was…most displeased with our failure."

Harry snorted as he guided Draco out of the room. "Of course, the fact that it was seven against two didn't enter his mind at all," Harry muttered sarcastically. "Of course the two of you were supposed to prevail over us all then somehow forcibly drag Nott out from behind the _strengthened _wards to his fate. The man is an idiot!"

Harry was shocked to hear a raspy chuckle emerge from the Potions Master as they made their way down the stairs.

"You truly do have the courage of your house, don't you, Potter?" Severus said. "Rash courage but courage nonetheless. I truly believe you would actually say that to his face."

"Well, maybe not in quite that way," Harry prevaricated then he grinned. "I might be a bit more insulting."

That raspy chuckle emerged again before disappearing into a bout of coughing. Both Snape and Harry paused until Snape had recovered then they continued on. When they emerged from the Shack, Harry let Snape led them to the Hog's Head using the darkest and most secure route. They had only one minor scare when someone burst out of the back door of the Hog's Head just as they were rounding the corner. Harry reacted fastest; he quickly lowered Draco to the ground then grabbed Snape and dragged him down next to the unconscious Slytherin. He crouched down next to them and swiftly threw the cloak over the top of all three, hoping that nothing too significant was sticking out.

The person leaving proved to be a rather drunk patron who was muttering something about his wife killing him and Harry struggled to swallow the snicker that rose in his throat. The snicker died when he heard Snape choke on another coughing fit, trying desperately to conceal it. He yanked his wand out of his pocket and cast a quick silencing charm over the three of them.

"It's alright. He won't hear us," he said urgently then watched with worry as Snape doubled over and coughed explosively, blood spattering onto the ground.

He turned and waited for the drunkard to lurch away and as soon as the man was out of sight, Harry cancelled the silencing charm and whipped the cloak off, tucking it under his arm. He helped Snape to his feet and levitated Draco again. They then made their way around the corner and slipped in through the half open door.

"Up or down?" Harry asked quietly.

"Up," Snape wheezed as he lurched towards the stair well. Harry almost directed Draco's limp body to follow Snape but at the last minute, he set the spell so that Draco would trail after him. He then started up the stairs after Snape and was ready when the Potions Master missed a step and nearly fell. He leapt up to catch the older man, grunting as most of Snape's weight ended up on him. Being that close, he could now hear Snape's pained breathing.

"Let me help you," Harry said simply. "I can help you and levitate Draco at the same time."

He felt Snape stiffen and hesitate then the dark head nodded once and Harry knew then how badly Snape must be hurting. He waited a moment and when Snape nodded once more they continued up the stairs, Draco's unconscious body floating behind them. Snape had taken some of his own weight back but Harry was still supporting enough to be surprised at how much the older man weighed. Snape always looked so thin even under the voluminous robes and Harry concluded that the man must be all whipcord muscle and bone.

They managed to make it to the room Draco was sharing with Snape without any further problems and Harry helped Snape sit on one of the bed then directed Draco's body over to the other.

"What potions do you need and where are they?" he asked briskly as soon as he ended the levitation spell.

"The box on the dresser," Snape rasped. "Bring it to me."

Harry nodded and quickly brought the box over the Snape. As he watched the older man flicked the box open and extracted a vial containing a sickly yellow potion. He fumbled at the seal on the vial until Harry snatched it away and carefully broke the seal. He then gave it back and Snape downed it in one quick swallow. Harry took the empty vial and Snape plucked a second potion from the box, quickly drinking that as well. Three more potions and the older man was looking more like he normally did.

"Do you need anything else?" Harry asked.

Snape shook his head. "Sleep will cure the rest."

"What about Draco?"

"I can hardly treat him with you in the room," Snape replied irritably.

"I know _that_," Harry said dryly. "But is he…what happened to him? Cruciatus?"

Snape nodded. "I doubt the spell was held on him long enough to cause any permanent damage but the Dark Lord was angry enough that the intensity was surely more than he has ever dealt with before." He paused before saying hesitantly, "Thank you for your assistance. I apologise that I had to disturb you."

Harry waved that off. "That's alright. I was still awake. Just out of curiosity, why didn't you call Aberforth? The Headmaster I can understand, he needs to stay hidden, but Aberforth…"

"Listen," Snape interrupted and Harry cocked his head to one side and did as he had been asked.

He frowned for a moment, wondering what he was supposed to be listening _for_ then the sounds of the pub below came to his ears.

"Oh," Harry said in understanding. "I guess it would have looked a little odd for Aberforth to receive that kind of message down there." He paused and gave the Potions Master a look of amused curiosity. "A phoenix, sir? Not quite what I expected."

"The Headmaster," was all Snape said in reply and Harry nodded in understanding. He knew from Tonks' example that other people could have an enormous effect on what your Patronus was. And Dumbledore had been friend, mentor, confidant, teacher and protector to Snape for more years that Harry cared to count.

Harry handed the empty vials back to Snape. "I should go. You need to look after Draco."

"I didn't know you cared," Snape said with some of his usual sarcasm.

"I don't, really," Harry said bluntly. "But even that great prat probably shouldn't suffer for his own stupidity." He paused. "Do you think what happened tonight could change his mind about Vol…er, the Dark Lord?"

Snape tucked the empty vials back into the box and grimaced. "I would like to be able to say yes but I fear he will simply shift the blame for his failure to you and the others."

Harry snorted. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" He shook out his cloak and swung it around his shoulders. "Was there anything I needed to know about tonight? While I'm here."

"I am to tell Greyback that he and his pack are to step up their actions and that they are to concentrate in particular on the students when they are outside the castle," Severus reported. "You might want to warn Hagrid about that. His classes will be the most vulnerable. Warn Sprout and Hooch as well."

Harry nodded soberly. "What about you and Draco?"

"We are to step up our attempts to lure you or one of the Orders members out of the castle," Snape replied.

Harry frowned. "Why does he want you to do that?"

"Capture," Snape replied succinctly. "Either to bring you to the Dark Lord or to use as bait to draw you out."

"Wonderful," Harry said sourly. "That's what I was afraid of. And I can't ask you to be subtly inept if this is the kind of punishment you're going to get." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. I'll warn everyone to be extra careful and to not go to Hogsmeade alone. How far does he want you to push that?"

"Pardon?"

"Is it just one of the Order members he's willing to use as bait? Is it my friends? Or is it anyone?" Harry asked, a sick expression on his face.

Snape saw that expression and recognised it for what it meant. They could kidnap just about anyone and Harry would risk his life to rescue them.

"Merlin save me from idiotic Gryffindors," he muttered irritably. "Potter, you are not responsible for the safety of the entire known universe. Tell Minerva about the threat in whatever way you can. She will know what kind of security measures to put in place. You might even suggest cancelling Hogsmeade visits after I engineer a few sightings of Draco and myself."

Harry nodded with a look of relief on his face. "Yeah, okay, that's sounds like a good idea. Thank you."

Snape gave him a look of exasperation and chagrin. "Potter…Harry…" He sighed. "Nevermind."

Harry smiled weakly. "You were going to tell me that I may have to sacrifice one of my friends or one of the Order. That this is war and if that is what is needed in order to win then that is what has to be done. I know, Severus. Moody's already brought this up. I don't like it. I don't want to do it. And we're still talking about it."

"Listen to Moody," Snape said flatly. "Now get out of here."

A grin flashed across Harry's face as he flipped the cloak over his head. A moment later the door opened and closed seemingly by itself. Severus stared at the closed door for a long moment and came to the reluctant conclusion that perhaps Potter wasn't quite as stupid as his father. He then shook his head to dismiss that thought and pushed himself to his feet. He needed to make sure Draco came out of this alive and then he needed to sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Harry made his way down the stairs and out the back door of the Hog's Head without any complications then he headed back towards the school. Once he was back inside the gates, he let his thoughts wander.

That had been one of the oddest events in his life. He would never have thought that Snape would be willing ask for his help. While it was true that the Potions Master's options were extremely limited, it was still very odd that he would choose Harry. Maybe he'd misjudged the man. Harry snorted at that thought; maybe Snape was just desperate and had no one else to turn to. Either way it had certainly made an interesting cap to the evening.

Harry quietly pushed the doors to the school open and slipped in before pulling out the Marauder's Map and activating it. The teachers patrolling the school had changed. Hagrid was up near the Astronomy Tower while Professor Sprout was down in the dungeons. Harry quickly darted up the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower and, after a short discussion with the Fat Lady, climbed through the entrance hole.

"Where the hell have you been, mate?"

Ron's voice startled him and he let the cloak slip a bit. Ron was peering at him from around the back of one of the large armchairs, his expression flat though with a hint of worry.

"Merlin, Ron! You scared the life out of me," Harry gasped.

"Yeah, well how do you think I felt when I woke up and your bed was empty?" Ron said flatly as Harry stripped the cloak off and closed the Map. "You could have left a note if you were going somewhere."

Harry walked over and slumped into the chair next to Ron's. He pulled his wand out and cast the Muffliato spell as a precaution.

"I've just had the weirdest experience of my life, Ron," he said dryly. "Give me a break."

Ron frowned. "Why? What happened?"

"I couldn't get to sleep after we got back so I just sat in the window for a while hoping I'd get tired," Harry explained, ignoring Ron's sudden concerned look. "As I was sitting there a silver phoenix came flying up to me."

"A _what_?" Ron said incredulously.

"It was a Patronus, Ron," Harry replied with a grin. "Remember that's how the Order sends messages to each other."

"So who in the Order has a silver phoenix as a Patronus?" Ron asked, looking intrigued.

"Snape," Harry said with an arch smile. He couldn't wait to see Ron's reaction.

The redhead didn't let him down. "_Snape_!" he yelped loudly, certainly loud enough that Harry was glad he'd put the Muffliato up. "What did that git want? Was it a trap?"

Harry grinned. "Calm down, Ron. You're going to burst a blood vessel. It was a request…well, more of an order, I suppose, that I come down to the Shrieking Shack. He said he needed help."

Ron stared at him for a long moment. "Snape asked you for help? Are you sure it was really him?"

That got a laugh out of Harry. "Yes, Ron, it was really him." He sobered. "He'd just come from reporting in to Voldemort and the bastard wasn't pleased with what happened tonight. Malfoy was passed out entirely and I think Snape was holding on through sheer stubbornness. Geez, Ron, I don't think I've ever seen anyone in as much pain as he was. He hid it pretty well though."

"How did you know he was really in pain then?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Ron, he actually needed me to help hold him upright at one point," Harry replied patiently. "Do you really think Snape would go that to those sorts of lengths if he wasn't really hurt?" He frowned and continued quietly, "Besides he was coughing up blood the whole time. It wasn't faked."

Ron looked rather shocked. "What spells did Voldemort use on them?"

"Just Cruciatus, I think," Harry replied. "Snape said it wasn't the duration of the spell that did the damage, it was the intensity. I'd say Voldemort was extremely pissed off."

"So what have Snape and Malfoy been told to do now then?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "They've been told to try and lure someone, preferably one of my friends or an Order member, out. That's if they can't lure _me_ out."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Bait," Harry replied succinctly. "Voldemort knows me a bit too well. He knows if he kidnapped one of my friends or someone from the Order, I'd do pretty much anything to get them back. After the Ministry and…Sirius, that's a pretty good bet."

Ron was silent for a moment as he considered that. "So what are you going to do?"

Harry sighed. "I'm not really sure _what_ I can do. I mean there's only so much I can tell Professor McGonagall without giving the game away. And Professor Dumbledore's right. He _has_ to stay hidden for Snape to stay safe and we need Snape safe so that he can find out where the damn Horcruxes are." He grimaced. "I'll tell you one thing though. I don't like Snape and I doubt that will ever change but as soon as we know where the last two Horcruxes are, I'm telling him to get rid of Nagini and get the hell out of there. _No one_, not even that greasy git, deserves to go through what he did tonight. And for what? Because _we_ ruined the whole thing. Nothing Snape or Malfoy could have done about it once we attacked. Voldemort's a real bastard."

Ron gave him a dubious look. "You're going soft in your old age, mate."

Harry snickered then sobered. "You didn't see Snape tonight. He could barely stand, was coughing up blood and didn't even have the strength to cast a simple levitation spell."

Ron gave a dubious grunt then looked up at the clock. "We'd better get to bed. We've got classes in the morning and Hermione'll never let up on us if we fall asleep during them."

Harry laughed and took the Muffliato down. "That's going alright then," he asked with artful casualness. "You and Hermione, I mean."

Ron's ears went a fetching shade of red and he gave a bashful grin. "Yeah."

"Good," Harry replied and the two boys headed up to their dorm.

The next morning at breakfast, and under the cover of another Muffliato, Harry told Hermione of his late night excursion. She stared at him in utter shock for several minutes after he finished, her spoonful of porridge frozen halfway to her mouth.

"Does…does he need anything?" she said when she finally managed to get her brain moving again. "We have potions we could leave with the Headmaster."

"Hermione, Snape's a _Potions Master_," Ron said carefully. "I think he'll be right on that score."

"Well, maybe not, Ron," Hermione replied. "It's not like he can easily get hold of ingredients. There are a lot of places he couldn't set foot in right now."

"But some of the other Death Eaters can," Ron countered. "So it's not like he isn't able to get hold of what he needs."

"He'll be fine," Harry interjected. "He had a whole casket full of potions. If he needed anything, he'd have told me."

Hermione nodded dubiously. "So what are we going to do?"

Harry shrugged and looked frustrated. "I have _no_ idea. All I can really tell Professor McGonagall is that I don't like the idea of the students leaving the wards. I've also got to warn Hagrid, Professor Sprout and Madam Hooch about Greyback's pack without telling how I know."

"That one's fairly easy," Hermione said. "They already know about the attack at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Just tell them that you're concerned that Greyback might decide to do something here. They'd already know that Hogwarts would be a logical target."

"Good point," harry said with relief.

"Did Snape say he and Malfoy are going to make some appearances before the first Hogsmeade weekend?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, he said something along those lines."

"Then wait until that happens," Ron said firmly. "I'm sure he'll make it look good without really putting any of the students at risk. Then you can go to Professor McGonagall and suggest cancelling the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"That's going to make me popular with everyone," Harry replied dryly.

"Better that everyone stays here than going out, getting kidnapped and being used as bait or getting killed," Hermione said.

Harry grumbled then took down the Muffliato and the trio finished their breakfast. They then headed for their first class where Harry took the seat behind Ron and Hermione. He was flipping through his text book when someone sat down next to him. He looked over expecting to see Dean or Seamus and was surprised to find Theodore Nott sitting beside him.

"Nott," he said with a nod.

"What happened after I left?" Theodore asked quietly but urgently. "I heard you lot attack but I didn't look back."

"They got away," Harry said softly. "Draco portkeyed out and Snape ran then apparated away. Have you had any response from Voldemort?"

Nott flinched at the name then shook his head. "I'm expecting something though. Maybe this evening, tomorrow certainly." He looked down at the desk, his face full of worry and concern.

"You know the Headmistress will help you if you go to her," Harry suggested.

Nott gave him a sceptical look. "Really?"

"Of course," Harry said firmly. "Look, I know Professor McGonagall is a Gryffindor but she's always been pretty fair, hasn't she? She takes points away from Gryffindor and gives us detentions when we do something wrong as quickly as any other student. She'll help you if you ask."

Not nodded slowly but before he could say anymore, Professor Flitwick walked into the room and the two boys settled down to pay attention to the lesson. At the end of the class, Nott gave Harry a brief nod then quickly walked out of the classroom.

"What was _that_ all about?" Ron asked quietly as the trio walked to their next class.

"He wanted to know what happened last night," Harry replied.

"How much did you tell him?" Hermione looked slightly alarmed.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Give me some credit, Hermione. I only told him what he needed to know. He's expecting a response from Voldemort today or tomorrow."

Both Hermione and Ron winced. "That's not going to be pretty," Ron said.

"I know," Harry replied as they walked into their first Defence class and got ready for Moody.

Severus stood beside the window in his room in the Hog's Head and stared out into the village. People were going about their normal morning tasks and Severus let his mind wander to what he might once have been doing on a morning such as this. While teaching was not something he overly enjoyed, the time it gave him to conduct research was always appreciated and the odd student who came along who was gifted in Potions was always worthwhile.

He'd always considered it a pity that Miss Granger had been sorted into Gryffindor with the way things had been forced to run. Had she been a Ravenclaw he would have been able to attempt to lure her into the study of Potions, maybe even encourage her to try for her Mastery in the subject. While her tendency to towards wanting to know _everything_ and her desire to have every answer come from a book was a touch on the irritating side, it was also something that could be trained out of her given time and enough examples. And she _was_ a gifted student.

And apparently he might have to consider Potter as something more than a complete incompetent. While he admitted a lot of his attitude towards the boy came from his hatred of James Potter and his necessary dislike for the Boy-Who-Lived, the fact that Potter had been able to brew successful potions with his annotated copy of Advanced Potion Making spoke volumes. Severus wondered what had prompted Potter to follow _his_ instructions rather than those originally written in the book. Most people would have ignored them, worried about whether they would cause more trouble. But Potter had not only followed them but followed them successfully. Slughorn was no fool, no matter how he acted. He would not have praised Potter unless he had earned said praise. Severus had no problems with Potter using his book; his modifications to the potions were superior to the original. What he was curious about was the sudden change in Potter's abilities; he usually didn't have _that_ much of an effect on competent brewers.

"Severus?" Draco's voice sounded sleepy and slightly drugged.

Severus turned and eyed the blond boy archly. "Welcome back," he said dryly.

Draco winced as he sat up. "What happened?"

"I believe that was going to be my question," Severus said. "What happened after you used the portkey?"

Draco hunched his shoulders and shivered. "Our Lord wasn't pleased that I didn't have Nott with me."

"Did you explain about the ambush?" Severus asked.

"Of course I did," Draco replied sullenly. "He didn't listen."

"The Dark Lord does not accept excuses," Severus sneered. "You should have anticipated that Nott may betray us."

"Why didn't you?" Draco said belligerently.

"He was not my year mate," Severus replied silkily.

Draco scowled. "What happened to you? I don't remember you arriving," he said, changing the subject slightly.

"Potter and his little friends decided to pursue me," Severus said in an offhand manner. "It took me some time to escape them. They were surprisingly persistent."

Draco sneered. "I thought you said they weren't that talented."

"It seems _they_ have learnt better," Severus replied, his voice full of silkily intimations. "The rumours I have been hearing of a _Trinity_ apparently refer to Potter and his friends." He paused then smirked. "Was it not _you_ who reported to our Lord that Potter was a mediocre student in all his classes?"

Draco paled then pushed himself rather shakily to his feet. "What are our orders?"

"We are to inform Fenrir to be more aggressive in his attacks and we are to increase our efforts to lure out Potter or one of his friends," Severus said idly. "Given the events of last night, I would recommend one of his friends. But not Granger or Ronald Weasley."

"What about Ginny Weasley?" Draco suggested. "She's supposed to be Potter's girlfriend."

Severus tilted his head back as he considered that. There was little he could say against it. The youngest of the Weasleys was the best option but not one that would please Potter or either of his friends.

"She will be wary," he said in a contemplative voice.

"She's the best choice," Draco insisted.

"I am not arguing that," Severus replied calmly. "But do not focus on her to the exclusion of all others. Any of the Gryffindors will do just as well. Potter would not allow any of them to be damaged on his account."

Draco nodded and sneered. Severus ignored this in favour of glancing out of the window again.

"I will go and inform Greyback as to the change in plans," he said briskly. "You will lurk around Hogsmeade and let suspicions rise. _Try_ to be subtle."

He sneered the last comment then swept out of the room. Draco glared at his retreating back then turned towards the trunk lying in one corner of the room. He pulled out a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom.

That evening after dinner, the trio were intercepted by Theodore Nott. The Slytherin looked pale and nervous and was clutching a piece of parchment in one hand. Harry held up a hand before Nott could say anything.

"Come with us," he said quietly.

Not nodded and the four students made their way up to the Head Student's common room. Hermione opened the door for them and once they were inside she cast silencing and privacy spells around the room. Harry followed that up with the Muffliato then he gestured to Nott to begin.

"It's from _him_," Nott said, brandishing the note. "He's not happy."

Harry took the note and opened it. Hermione and Ron leaned over his shoulders and the three of them read it. It didn't take long.

_You will join me. Do not look to Potter to save you._

_V_

"He can't touch you while you stay inside the wards," Harry said firmly. He then remembered something that Snape had mentioned about Greyback. "Though if I were you, I'd stay close to the castle. I wouldn't put it past Snape to find some way of sneaking past the wards. He _was_ a teacher here after all."

Nott looked unconvinced. "You truly think the wards will hold?"

"They were put up by Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick," Hermione said firmly. "They'll hold. The only thing that could take them down is a concerted attack and I hardly think Voldemort would waste such an attack on you. No offence."

"None taken," Nott said with a wry smile. "And thank you. I…never expected the Dark Lord to target me personally."

"What I want to know is why is doing this at all?" Ron asked.

"He needs a spy inside Hogwarts," Harry replied. "He's lost both of the spies he had before with Snape and Malfoy gone."

"Exactly," Nott said sourly. "What worries me is that if I continue to refuse he'll go after someone with less backbone."

"Can you do anything about that?" Harry asked.

Nott shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not the kind of leader Draco was. They all know that the only reason I'm the Seventh Year prefect is because there's no one else."

"Will Slughorn be of any help?" Ron asked. "He's your Head of House after all."

"I didn't think of him," Nott admitted. "I guess I can speak to him. Can I drop your name, Potter?" He smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh hell, why not? If it helps, do whatever you need to do."

Ron and Hermione laughed as Nott grinned sardonically.

"Do you really think anyone still in Slytherin would change their mind and follow Voldemort?" Hermione asked.

Nott grimaced. "I'd like to say no but if he intimidates them enough or threatens their families, I can't rule it out." He paused and eyed the trio of Gryffindors opposite him speculatively. "You three do realise that he _will_ look to the other Houses if his efforts in Slytherin fail?"

Harry nodded soberly. "Yes. I know for a fact that Voldemort has non-Slytherin followers. My parents were killed because of that."

"Sirius Black?" Nott asked.

Harry snorted. "No. Sirius was innocent, framed by the true traitor, Peter Pettigrew. Otherwise known as Wormtail."

"Wormtail?" Nott said with surprise. "I've met him. Scrawny little rodent-like man, right?. Very nervous and twitchy. Has a silver hand. He's the one who made the initial approach to me at the start of the summer before Sixth Year."

"That's him," Harry replied grimly. "He was a friend of my Dad's when they were at Hogwarts. They had a bit of a gang and they were all Gryffindors. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. It was Pettigrew who was the Secret Keeper for my parents. He was the one who betrayed them."

"We're well aware that Death Eaters could come from any of the Houses," Hermione added softly.

"It was a Ravenclaw who betrayed the DA in Fifth Year," Ron pointed out then he grinned. "We trust no one."

"Except each other," Hermione said, poking Ron in the ribs.

"Yeah, well, that goes without saying," Ron replied.

"Not even me?" Nott asked.

"No," Harry replied bluntly.

"Good," Not replied. "Nice to see that Gryffindors are actually capable of thinking properly."

"I think that was high praise from a Slytherin," Harry said dryly. "What is the world coming to?"

"You caught me in a moment of weakness," Nott said with a small smile as he got to his feet. "I'd better go. If I'm going to try and make some inroads with my House mates I'd better start while the Dark Lord still has his sights set on me."

The stringy Slytherin gave them a short bow then headed for the door. Once he'd left, Harry raised an eyebrow at his friends.

"Interesting," Hermione opined. "I hope he can shift some of those neutral Slytherins."

Ron looked dubious. "I think we were lucky to get them as neutrals at the moment. I mean it doesn't really look good for our side with Dumbledore _dead_. Maybe if can have a few victories, they start shifting more to our side."

Harry nodded. "I think we need to start really airing out the Trinity. We haven't done much so far."

"What _can_ we do?" Hermione said, with a helpless gesture of her hands. "The Aurors are the ones who get the alerts about any attacks from Voldemort. We're not likely to get the news in time."

"Maybe we can," Harry said slowly. "We'll have to sneak out sometime in the next few days and see Du…_you know_. He can pass a message on to…his greasiness. Maybe we can get some advance knowledge from there."

"Dangerous," Hermione warned. "What if Voldemort suspects something when we show up a little too conveniently?"

"His greasiness will think up a way around that," Ron said with a small grin. "He's got the experience after all."

"We can at least broach the idea," Harry temporised.

"Why are we using those names?" Hermione asked with a frown. "I would think we're safe enough in here."

"Yeah, probably," Harry replied. "But we don't want to get into a habit of using their names. We might slip in the wrong place."

"Fair enough," Hermione said with alacrity then she took the wards and spells down. "Well, _I've_ got homework and I'm sure you two do as well. We can't ignore it just because the world's coming to an end."

Harry and Ron groaned but obediently got up and headed for their bags.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

They had little time in the next week for sneaking down to Hogsmeade as their classes and duties as Head Boy and Girl and Prefect took up nearly all of their time. They found this frustrating but under the circumstances they felt it was important that they been seen to be taking their schooling seriously. The situation at Hogwarts was still very tense and while some of the missing students had returned, the numbers in the school were still below what they should be.

Finally just over a week after their attempt to capture Snape and Draco, Harry received an owl from Tonks at breakfast asking them to meet her in Moody's office after classes finished for the day. They found it a little hard to concentrate on their classes that day. This was probably the message they had been waiting for. Tonks had been in charge of the search for the former orphans who had known Tom Riddle.

They finally walked out of their last class for the day with a sigh of relief and immediately made their way up to Moody's office. Tonks was already there and waiting for them.

"Wotcher, Harry!" she said cheerfully, her hair a rather vibrant shade of purple. "Hey, Ron, Hermione!"

"Hi, Tonks," the three friends chorused.

"What have you got for us?" Harry asked.

"We found 'em," Tonks said, handing Harry a piece of parchment. "They're not young but they're all still alive. We've made arrangements for you three to be able to see them without raising any suspicions."

"When?" Harry asked eagerly.

"This weekend," Tonks replied. "I'll come and get you on Saturday morning. Just after breakfast?"

Harry glanced at his friends then nodded at Tonks. "We're supposed to be able to sleep in on weekends," he said with good humour.

"Hah, you wanted to take charge of this, now you find the down side of it," Tonks replied with a grin. "Responsibility requires early hours."

"I want to be irresponsible," Ron groaned.

Moody chuckled. "Too late, Weasley."

"Ah, well," Ron said with a theatrical shrug of his shoulders then he looked at Harry. "So should we dress up in our Trinity robes for this?"

Harry shook his head. "Uh no, Ron. These are _Muggles_ we're going to talk to. If we turned up in robes we'd just have them doubting our sanity. Muggle clothes would be best."

"Oh, okay," Ron said as Hermione smothered a smile.

"Well, that's all I needed to tell you," Tonks said, leaping to her feet and beaming widely. "I have to go. I'm meeting Remus. We're having dinner in Hogsmeade."

Harry grinned. "Have fun."

Tonks waved a hand at him as she practically bounced out of the room, stumbling over the trio's bags on her way out. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched her go then grinned at each other.

Moody had been watching them closely during the whole time they had been in his office and now he cleared his throat.

"What's going on that I need to know about?" he barked.

The trio jumped and swallowed hard at the sudden, unexpected question. "Er, what do you mean?" Harry asked

Moody's eyes narrowed at that reaction. "What do you three have planned that you're not telling us about?"

Harry relaxed slightly as he realised that Moody simply thought they were planning an expedition of some kind and not hiding information. He conjured up a sheepish smile and shot a quick glance at Ron and Hermione.

"Er, it's nothing like _that_," he said with exaggerated innocence. "We just…well, Fred and George gave me some stuff for my birthday and Ron and I thought we might have some fun with it."

"Er, yeah," Ron said hastily. "I mean, the place has been pretty serious this year. We thought maybe people could do with a laugh."

"I _told_ you someone would figure out what you two were up to," Hermione chided, catching on to what they were doing. "You're hardly the stealthiest people around."

"We weren't going to do anything _dangerous_," Harry grumbled. "It was just a bit of fun."

Moody growled a laugh. "Don't let me stop you."

"Ah, it'll be no fun now that you've found out," Ron grumped. "Half the point was to surprise the teachers."

"We'll have to come up with something else now," Harry said with a grin.

"Well, do it somewhere else," Moody said and the trio grabbed their bags and got out of the room in a hurry.

They scurried along the corridors until they got to their private common room. The moment they got inside, they shut the door and Harry quickly put up all their usual spells.

"_That_ was way too close," Ron said as he dropped into a chair.

"We're going to have to be a _lot_ more careful around Moody," Harry added as joined Ron in a chair in front of the fireplace.

Hermione sat down as well. "You don't want to tell him?"

"We can't," Harry pointed out. "It's not our secret to tell. We found out by accident. If Professor Dumbledore wanted anyone else to know, they probably already _would_ know."

"I suppose you're right," Hermione said reluctantly.

"They _can't_ know," Harry said firmly. "We still need Snape right where he is."

Hermione shuddered and nodded. Harry took the spells down and the trio settled in to do their homework.

After breakfast on Saturday morning, Harry and his friends gathered in the Entrance Hall where Tonks was chatting happily with Remus. The bubbly metamorphmagus waved to them as they walked over and joined her.

"You lot ready?" she asked and the trio nodded.

"You will be careful, won't you?" Remus asked.

"We're going to interview Muggles," Harry said patiently. "And elderly muggles at that. I don't think they're suddenly going to spring up and attack us."

"Voldemort might have anticipated this," Remus pointed out.

Harry paused for a moment then shook his head. "I doubt it, Remus. He hated that orphanage. I doubt he ever thought about the people he knew there once he left."

"Still, be careful," Remus said firmly.

Harry smiled and nodded. "Always."

Tonks threw her arms around Remus in an enthusiastic hug which he returned with embarrassed delight then she pressed a brief kiss against his lips before bounding towards the door. Harry grinned at the sheepish expression on Remus' face then he and his friends hurried off to join Tonks.

"I take it everything's going well with you two," Harry said innocently as they walked down towards the gates.

Tonks beamed and blushed at the same time and her hair flickered from purple to pink to an iridescent lime green before settling back to purple. "Everything's just _fine_," she said in a heartfelt tone.

"Good," Harry said, swallowing a snicker, something that Ron didn't succeed at. Tonks shot them both amused looks as Hermione rolled her eyes.

Once they got out of the gates, Tonks turned towards them. "Okay, if you all apparate to the Leaky Cauldron, we'll be portkeying from there."

The trio nodded and a second later all four were gone. They reappeared in the back yard of the Leaky Cauldron where there was a rather nondescript man leaning against the brick wall.

"Here's your portkeys, Tonks," he said abruptly, handing three engraved metal plates to the Auror and then glancing at Harry. "We've got people in place to set the spells when you get there. Oh, and the Minister wants to speak to you when you're finished."

With that the nondescript man apparated out and Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Are you in trouble for doing this?" Harry asked urgently.

Tonks shook her head. "No, I spoke to the Minister about this and he approved it. He might not be too pleased with some of things you've said and done, Harry, but he's not going to actively stand in your way. He knows how important you are to this whole thing. He just wishes you were a little more…well, friendly to the Ministry."

Harry snorted. "I'll think about it…when he gives me a good reason to."

Tonks chuckled. "That's the spirit," she said cheerfully before glancing down at the portkeys. She tucked two in her pocket and held on out to the trio. "Here we go."

Harry and his friends reached out and placed a finger on the metal plate then Tonks said, "Activate primary."

They felt the sudden drag of the portkey spell activating then they were staggering against each other in a small laneway filled with bins and rubbish bags. Tonks quickly looked around as she tucked the portkey into her pocket.

"So where exactly are we?" Harry asked.

"Oxford," Tonks replied as she led them out of the laneway, only tripping over one bin on the way. "Billy Stubbs or Professor William Stubbs as he's known now is a Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at Oxford University. He took the least amount of…er, _special help_ in persuading him to see you. He thinks you're doing some research into family history and that you think Tom Riddle might be related."

Harry shuddered. "Now _that's_ a thought that's going to fester. Tom Riddle a relative!"

Hermione and Ron laughed as Tonks led them down the street. They turned right at the intersection and then Tonks was nodding to a small man who was leaning against a pole and reading a paper. Harry was relieved to see that the man, whom he assumed was a wizard, was dressed properly and was actually reading the Times. The man nodded back and Tonks walked up to the front door of the house behind where the man was leaning. She knocked on the door as Harry, Ron and Hermione walked up to join her. There was a longish pause and then the door was opened by an elderly though still quite spritely man.

"Ah, Miss…Tonks, wasn't it?" he said with a pleasant smile. "And these must be the young people you were telling me about."

Tonks smiled broadly in response. "Yes, Professor Stubbs. This is Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. There doing a school project on genealogy and Harry's trying to work out of the Tom Riddle you knew at the orphanage is the same Tom Riddle that's cropped up in his family tree."

"Well, come in then," the Professor said, standing back and allowing them in. He then led them into a small sitting room and gestured for them to sit down. "Now, can I offer you some tea or perhaps a cold drink?"

They all agreed on tea and the old man headed off for the kitchen. He was back in fairly short order and once they were all sorted out with their tea, he sat down in what looked like his normal chair and eyed Harry curiously.

"When your teacher here came round asking about Tom Riddle it quite took me back," he said musingly. "I can honestly say I haven't thought about Tom Riddle since I was about seventeen."

"Did you know him well?" Harry asked.

"No, I don't think anyone did," Professor Stubbs said with a shake of his head. "He didn't much care for the rest of us at the orphanage. Thought he was so much better than us. I didn't much care for him myself."

"Why was that, sir?" Harry asked.

"Our rooms were next to each other for a while before I asked to be shifted," the Professor explained. He frowned and shivered a bit. "Tom Riddle was one of the coldest people I've ever met and I've worked in academia for nearly fifty years. And he could be very nasty as well. I had a pet rabbit when I was a boy and he killed it. Never did figure how he managed it but I know it was him."

"What did he do?" Hermione asked.

"Hung it from one of the rafters," Professor Stubbs said bluntly. "Be damned if I know how he got up there. The ceiling was enormous in that place and the ladders didn't reach that far. He never admitted it, of course, but you could see it in his eyes. There was always a sort of smug maliciousness present whenever the subject came up. We'd argued, you see. Just a few days before my rabbit died. I stayed away from him after that. And I _really_ kept my distance after the trouble with Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop. He did…_something_ to them on that trip we took to the beach."

The Professor gave them a troubled look. "Do you really think he's related to you?"

Harry looked thoughtful. "I don't know. The description I have from the family records is of a very pleasant man, handsome and cheerful."

The Professor relaxed a little at that. "Might not be the same one. I suppose Riddle isn't an uncommon surname. And Tom's a common enough first name."

"Did your Tom Riddle have any places he liked to disappear to?" Harry asked with an air of someone checking details off in his mind.

The Professor leaned back in his chair and thought for a while. "Well, I did often see the Matron hauling him up from the basement so he might have had a hidey hole down there. Mine was in the attic but Tom seemed to like the basement."

Harry pretended to consider that then he shook his head. "No, doesn't seem like your Tom Riddle and my Tom Riddle are the same person. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"Count yourself lucky then," Professor Stubbs said as they all rose to their feet. He chuckled ruefully as he walked them to the door. "And I'm an old, retired man, Mr Potter. I enjoy having my time wasted. Gives me something to do."

They shook hands with the elderly Professor then Tonks led them back to the laneway they had arrived in. She pulled another of the metal portkeys out of her pocket and glanced down at it.

"Amy Benson," she said as she held it out to the trio. "She's in a nursing home in Essex. This one took a little more trickery to get you in. They only let family and registered friends in to see her."

"Really? Why?" Hermione asked with surprise.

"She's…a little odd from what they say," Tonks replied. "Activate secondary."

Once more they were yanked along by the portkey and deposited in a secluded alleyway. Tonks led them out and along the street before signalling to a middle-aged woman who was reading a map. The woman nodded and looked around almost furtively before pulling out her wand. She pointed it at the door of a large elegant mansion and muttered a few words. The walls of the mansion glowed for a second then the woman nodded to Tonks.

"Come on," Tonks said urgently and she strode over to the door of the mansion, tripping only once. "We've only got about half an hour before that spell wears off."

"What does it do?" Harry asked as the trio followed Tonks through the nursing home almost at a run.

"Just makes everyone ignore us and not remember anything unusual," Tonks replied as she strode along the corridor, checking names on doors.

The room they were after was at the very end of the corridor and Harry saw the name Amy Bishop on a small bronze plaque before Tonks opened the door. They walked in to find a large airy room with the woman they were looking for sitting in a chair at a small table playing solitaire. She looked over when they walked in and gave them a wide but slightly disconnected smile. The expression in her eyes was vague and drifty and Harry wondered if they were going to get anything useful out of her.

Tonks closed the door carefully behind them and whispered to Harry, "Go gently. From what we've been able to discover she's never been quite right since whatever Riddle did to her."

Harry nodded then he walked over to the table, flanked by Ron and Hermione.

"Hello, Miss Benson," he said gently. "My name's Harry. These are my friends Ron and Hermione."

The elderly woman beamed at them then smiled even wider at Hermione. "That's a very pretty name," she said in a soft, whispery voice. "I had a sister named Hermione. She died in a car crash with my parents. Your eyes are so much like hers, so full of life."

Harry nudged Hermione and the bushy haired girl stepped forward and smiled at Amy Benson.

"Thank you, Miss Benson," she said calmly. "I'm sorry that your family died."

"It was terrible," Amy Benson said, her eyes widening in a child-like manner. "I had no other relatives. I was sent to an orphanage."

Hermione gingerly sat down in the other chair at the table. "Did you like it at the orphanage?"

Amy smiled gently. "Mostly. Most of the other children were _very_ nice. And I got adopted when I was thirteen."

"Was there anyone who was not nice?" Hermione asked carefully.

Amy's eyes filled with tears. "Ooh, there was that horrible Tommy Riddle. He was mean." She leaned forward and spoke in a conspiratorial manner. "He hurt me. Me and Denny."

Hermione gave a worried glance at her friends then looked back at Miss Benson. "What did he do?"

"We were at the beach," Amy said with a happy smile. "Tommy said he'd found something interesting and did Denny and I want to see it. We went up to a cave." She frowned and tilted her head to one side. "Then Tommy did something strange. I'm not supposed to talk abut it. Everyone gets angry at me and tells me I'm crazy. _I_ don't think I'm crazy. I know what I saw."

Hermione reached out and took one of the elderly woman's hands. "_I'll_ believe you, Miss Benson," she said firmly. "I don't think you're crazy at all."

Amy Benson beamed at her, an expression that brought back the remnants of her youthful beauty. Then she leaned forward and spoke eagerly.

"Tommy took us into the cave," she began. "It wasn't much of a cave but he said there was something interesting at the back. We went with him and he pointed at the wall of the cave. He said there was an entrance there. Denny and I thought he was being silly then Tommy did something horrible! He cut his hand on a rock and wiped it on the rock. He said he'd found this by accident when we went to the beach last year and he wanted to show us."

Her eyed widened with excitement. "You'll never believe what happened! The wall _faded away_! And there was another cave behind it. One with a big lake. Tommy took us in there."

"What happened then?" Hermione asked gently.

Amy frowned. "I…don't really remember. I remember Tommy grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the lake. He said something to me and trying something. Then my head hurt and I don't remember anything else." The frown faded and she giggled. "I remember the Matron saying to someone much later that I wasn't quite right anymore. I didn't know what she meant but it didn't stop my new Mum and Dad from adopting me."

"That's good," Hermione said warmly. "Did you know Tommy well?"

"Oh, no," Amy said with a smile. "No one did. Tommy kept to himself mostly. He was a _very_ private boy. Used to spend a lot of his time down in the basement." She giggled again. "Oh, the Matron used to get so annoyed with him for that. She was always having to go down there and drag him back up."

Hermione smiled and squeezed the elderly woman's hand gently. "Thank you so much, Miss Benson. You've been a great help."

"I have?" Amy said with surprised pleasure. "Oh, that's wonderful. Are you leaving?"

"Yes, I'm afraid we have to," Hermione said as she stood.

"Oh, that _is_ a shame," Amy said with clear disappointment. "I've had such a lovely time talking to you, Hermione. That _is_ a very pretty name."

"Thank you," Hermione replied then the four of them slowly left the room.

Harry looked back as he closed the door. The elderly woman had gone back to her card game and was humming happily to herself. The group was silent as they hurried out of the nursing home and Tonks nodded soberly to the middle-aged woman when they finally got back onto the street.

"Why do I get the feeling I _really_ don't want to know what Riddle did to her in that cave?" Ron muttered, looking very uneasy.

"Because he's a sick bastard," Tonks said shortly as she stumbled over a rough part of the sidewalk. "And nothing you could think up would probably come close to the truth. It's kind of creepy finding out he was like that as a child."

They walked back into the alleyway they'd arrived in and Tonks pulled out the last portkey. She held it out to them and they wordlessly put their fingers on it.

Tonks drew in a deep breath and said, "Activate tertiary."

This time they arrived in the backyard of an abandoned house. Tonks pushed the rusty gate open and they walked down a street bordered by dingy, dilapidated houses. They soon arrived at another nursing home though this one was markedly different from the one in which Amy Benson lived. This nursing home was a dingy as the rest of the houses in the area and the disreputable man leaning against the front fence did not look out of place at all. The man nodded to Tonks then in a slightly underhanded manner, pointed his wand at the nursing home and muttered under his breath. The walls of the nursing home glowed and they walked up the stairs and into the building.

The inside of the nursing home wasn't that much different from the outside except that it was dilapidated and clean rather than dilapidated and dingy. They walked through the water-stained corridors until they found the room where Dennis Bishop resided. They walked in to find the elderly man sitting in an armchair with a rug wrapped around his legs and staring into space.

"Mr Bishop?" Harry said hesitantly.

There was no reaction from the old man and Harry slowly walked around to face him. Dennis Bishop didn't even seem to see him and Harry frowned.

"Mr Bishop?" he said again. "We've come to ask you about Tom Riddle."

Life flickered in the old man's eyes and they finally focused on Harry.

"Stay away from him," the old man whispered in a hollow tone. "Stay away."

Harry hesitated. "What did he do to you?"

"Took something," Dennis whispered, his eyes starting to become unfocused again. "Took something, never got it back. Never been right."

"Did he do the same thing to Amy Benson?" Harry asked.

The old man was silent, his eyes distant again and Harry slowly began to turn away. Clearly whatever sense Riddle's name had summoned had disappeared again. Harry shook his head sadly at his friends and Tonks opened the door. Just as Harry was about to walk out of the room the old man looked over at him.

"Took something from Amy," Dennis whispered hollowly. "Don't know why. Stay away from Tom."

Harry stared at the old man with a sad apprehension. "Thank you, Mr Bishop," he said quietly then he closed the door.

They quickly walked out of the nursing home, hardly noticing the nondescript man still waiting outside. They hurried back to the yard and Tonks swallowed hard before speaking.

"You three apparate back to Hogwarts," she said uneasily. "I have to go and report in to Minister Scrimgeour."

Harry and his friends nodded silently then disappeared with three loud cracks. Tonks shivered at the memory of the old man then she too disappeared with a crack.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Harry and his friends arrived outside the gates of Hogwarts and exchanged disturbed glances before heading back up to the school. Their expedition had taken up the entire morning but none of them were hungry for lunch. They made their way up to the common room Harry and Hermione shared and set their normal spell. They settled into various chairs and couches and stared at the fire for some time.

"Did we get anything out of that other than the creeps?" Ron asked into the mournful silence.

"A location," Harry replied flatly. "The basement of the orphanage. We need to go and look there."

"What do you think Riddle did to them?" Hermione asked, her voice full of faint horror.

Ron quickly got up and sat down next to her on the couch, pulling her into his arms.

"I don't know," Harry replied, swallowing hard. "And frankly, I don't _want_ to know. What scares me about it is that he did that before he even got to Hogwarts. He might not have known exactly what he was using but he knew he was capable of _something_."

"Does this cure you of your thought that you're just like Riddle?" Ron asked.

"It goes a long way," Harry admitted with a wry smile.

Silence settled in the room again though this time it seemed a bit lighter.

It was Hermione who broke it this time. "So when do we go?"

"As soon as I find out if Moody will let me," Harry replied with a slow grin.

"What?" Ron said. "Surely that's not still in force? He let you join in the ambush."

"Yeah but I think that was because he was there to supervise," Harry replied as he pushed himself to his feet. "I might go and have a word with him."

"Want us to come?" Ron asked.

"Nah," Harry said easily. "You guys haven't had much time together since school started. Why don't you do that now?"

Ron and Hermione blushed then smiled their thanks at Harry. He grinned back then headed out of the room and up to Moody's office. He knocked on the door and was surprised to here the former Auror call out permission to enter.

"I wasn't sure you'd be here, sir," Harry said as he walked in.

"Marking," Moody growled. "Can't believe how much time it takes."

Harry laughed and sat down in the chair in front of the desk.

"How did your little trip go today?" Moody growled as he pushed the parchments away.

"It was a bit…unsettling," Harry admitted. "Professor Stubbs was helpful but the other two were…well, still affected by whatever Riddle did to them."

"So what's the next step?" Moody asked, leaning back in his chair.

"The orphanage," Harry said firmly. "That is, if we're allowed out on our own again?"

Moody eyed him speculatively. "Hmm, well, you three did well during our ambush attempt against Malfoy and Snape. You sat through the whole time those two were there without doing anything stupid. Not sure if I liked you lot haring off after Snape the way you did but we _were_ busy with Malfoy and you were in good position to do so." He nodded once. "Okay, I'll lift the suspension. What do you need?"

"Blueprints," Harry said promptly, not bothering to conceal his grin. "I want to know what the place is like inside. We're looking to go down into the basement. Both Professor Stubbs and Amy Benson mentioned that Riddle had some kind of hiding place down there."

Moody grunted and got to his feet. He rummaged around in cupboard for a moment then pulled out a series of blueprints. "Shacklebolt got hold of these for me as well as a bit of information about the orphanage. Very useful having him in the Muggle government."

Moody walked out into the DADA classroom and spread the blueprints out on the front desk. Harry joined him and they peered over them for a moment before working out what was what.

"It's not an orphanage any more," Harry said with surprise.

Moody grunted. "Yeah. Sorry, should have told you. It's an art gallery now. Muggle art."

"That's going to make things more difficult," Harry said with a grimace. "Those places usually have security systems."

"There are ways of getting around those," Moody replied. "I'll teach you and your cohorts before you go."

"Great," Harry replied absently as he turned to another part of the blueprints.

Moody pulled a second sheet of the blueprints over onto another desk and he and Harry settled into some serious planning.

A week later and just after dinner, Harry stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom in Gryffindor Tower and adjusted the collar of his Trinity uniform. Ron was standing beside him, fastening his cloak over his chest. Both boys were full of a mix of apprehension, nervousness and anticipation. Finally they finished their preparations and took deep breaths almost in unison. They then walked out of the bathroom and headed down to the common room.

They found Hermione waiting for them near the entrance hole and the other members of their House watching with expressions of curiosity and worry. Harry gave the Gryffindors a tight smile that modulated into something warmer when he got to Ginny. She smiled back then gave him a single nod, fear lingering in her eyes.

The trio crawled out of the hole and headed down to the Entrance Hall. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them there along with Moody and Remus. She smiled grimly at them.

"Good luck," she said firmly. "If you haven't either returned or sent a message by two am we'll send a rescue party out after you."

Harry nodded; that was the agreement they'd come to with Moody. The two men also wished them luck and the trio headed out into the night. They walked down to the gates wordlessly then apparated to the rear yard of the Leaky Cauldron. They pulled the hoods of their cloaks up over their faces before walking into the pub. Harry inclined his head at Tom and gave a small wave to Fred and George who were sitting in a booth at the back and looking tense. The twins nodded back and the trio headed out into Muggle London.

The former orphanage actually wasn't too far from the Leaky Cauldron and Harry wondered briefly if that was why Merope Gaunt, or rather Merope Riddle, had chosen it. That it was the first one she found after leaving the wizarding world. About a block away, they slipped down an alleyway and approached it from a back lane.

"You know this would be a lot easier if we actually knew what we were looking for," Ron murmured as they walked silently along the lane.

"Snape isn't anywhere _near_ close enough to find out what we need to know," Harry explained. He'd been able to sneak down to Hogsmeade three days ago and speak to the Headmaster. He'd returned yesterday to collect the reply from Snape.

"It shouldn't be _too_ hard," Hermione said. "It's either going to be that small cup of Hufflepuff's or something that might appeal to a Ravenclaw."

"A book?" Ron suggested with a flash of grin.

"Maybe but I wouldn't think so," Hermione replied with prim amusement. "I'm sure Ravenclaw would have left her books to the school and Madam Pince would know if one had gone missing. I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out. If not, we simply retreat and wait for Snape to find out the information."

"Quiet down," Harry said as they got near the former orphanage.

There was a security camera located over the rear access door that opened onto the lane so Harry pulled his invisibility cloak out and gestured for Ron and Hermione into the shadows. They obeyed and Harry threw the cloak over his head. He slowly crept up to the back door and positioned himself in the camera's blind spot. He then pulled his wand out and edged it and his hand out from under the cloak.

"Caecus camera," he muttered.

A tendril of purple light drifted out of his wand and wrapped itself around the camera lens. Harry pulled his invisibility cloak off and beckoned for Ron and Hermione to join him. A quick Alohomora had the door open then they slid inside and Harry closed and locked the door behind them. They darted over to a large grey box that sat opposite the door and Harry pulled it open. Inside were the controls for the security system and he nodded to Hermione.

She stepped forward and traced the workings of the security system for a moment until she found the section she was looking for. She held her wand against the small panel and whispered, "Neglego populi."

There was a small flash the Hermione looked up at the two boys. "It worked, I think."

"You _think_?" Ron exclaimed in a quiet squeak.

"That's what was supposed to happen," Hermione said a little defensively. "But it's not like we get any other indication."

"Look, let's just assume it worked and get on with what we're here for," Harry whispered quickly in order to avert any potential argument.

Ron and Hermione nodded and the red head gave his girlfriend's hand a squeeze of apology. She smiled briefly back and the trio walked gingerly down the corridor towards the door that opened into the main gallery space.

"So where are the stairs down to the basement?" Hermione whispered.

"In the main gallery," Harry replied. "Over to the side. They should be gated so we won't be able to miss them."

Harry pushed the door open and they walked out into the gallery. The large room was dark but the moonlight shone through glass panels in the high ceiling. The walls of the room were festooned with paintings of all descriptions and there were odd sculptures scattered around the floor space. Suits of armour stood in various corners and skeleton of some kind of strange and probably entirely fantastical bird of prey made out of metal had been hung from the ceiling. The centrepiece of all of the artwork was a silvery orb that sat in a glass case and almost seemed to glow in the moonlight pouring into the dark room.

"Merlin! This place is creepy," Ron whispered as they walked across the room. "It doesn't seem right for the paintings to be so still."

"I think the Muggles would get a bit upset if the paintings started moving," Harry whispered back with amusement.

Hermione gave a quiet laugh then pointed over to one side of the large room where there was an ornate fence and gates. "That must be the stairwell over there."

The trio headed over to the gates and Hermione unlocked them with a quick Alohomora. They walked through the gates and Hermione pulled them closed but did not lock them. The three friends pointed their wands down the stairs and used the Lumos spell to light their way. They walked carefully downwards and soon found themselves in front of a set of double doors. Hermione quickly unlocked these doors and the trio walked into a medium sized room. There were several sets of laden shelves in this room along with a number of full cases and several doors led off this room.

"What now?" Ron asked as they looked around.

"Start searching," Harry said firmly. "We're looking for something that might have the Ravenclaw insignia on it or something that might appeal to a Ravenclaw. Remember the spell that indicates whether something has traces of magic on it. If you find something with magical residue, call Hermione and she can use the spell that will let us know if it's a Horcrux." Harry looked around. "Stay in this room for the moment. We'll move onto the other rooms once we've finished in here."

"Do you think it'll be in the open?" Hermione asked dubiously.

"We'll start with the obvious," Harry replied. "If we can't find it amongst the gallery's things then we'll start looking for hidden places. Now come on, we don't have _that_ much time."

Ron and Hermione nodded and the trio split up and started searching the room. They very quickly found that the search wasn't going to be as difficult as they'd first thought. Everything stored down in the basement also had several documents with them that turned out to be authentication papers as well as papers detailing the item's provenance. This enabled them to eliminate many items within just a few minutes. Only a handful of items required checking by Hermione and none turned out to be the Horcrux.

Once they finished their search of the main room, they headed for the side rooms. The first they dismissed immediately. It turned out to be an office, probably for some the administrative staff or possibly the curators of the gallery. The second room held paintings, none of which showed any signs of magic. The third held small items of statuary. Some of these items had traces of magic on them but in each case they were also accompanied by authentication and provenance papers that indicated that the statues had perhaps once belonged to magical families but had ended up in the hands of Squib members of those families.

It was in the fourth room that things started looking a little more promising. This room held items that the gallery had acquired but could not put on show due to lack of authentication and/or provenance. They slowly began to go through the items on the shelves in this room, examining each quickly but carefully.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione said with excitement. "I think I might have found it!"

The two boys hurried over to her side and looked down at the object she held in her hands. It was a very elaborate piece; a decorative ink bottle with an equally decorative quill resting in the bottle. Both were made of bronze and the quill was inlaid with blue enamelling to mimic the barbs of a feather while the ink bottle was inlaid with what looked like sapphire. The papers accompanying the piece indicated that its provenance was unknown and they had not found any record of it anywhere and thus were unable to authenticate it. The papers also detailed that the object had been found in a small niche in one of walls during the renovations after the gallery bought the site.

Harry looked up from the papers and grinned at Hermione. "I think you might be right."

"Have you tried the spell on it?" Ron asked from where he was reading over Harry's shoulder.

Hermione shook her head then tapped the object with her wand, muttering a few words under he breath. The beautiful artefact glowed golden for a brief moment then faded.

"It's the Horcrux," Hermione said a little shakily. "What do you want to do?"

"We'll take it with us," Harry said, holding out his hand. Hermione gave him the object and Harry pulled a small velvet bag out of his pocket. "Moody gave this to me," he explained as he tucked the Ravenclaw object into the bag. "It'll keep it safe and secure no matter what happens."

"You don't want to disable it here?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "Aberforth's been busy the last week and we haven't had a chance to work on grounding magic yet. I don't want to risk another wildfire event in here. Professor McGonagall will be able to store it safely at Hogwarts until I'm ready to destroy it."

Ron and Hermione nodded as Harry tucked the velvet bag back into his robes. They walked out of the room, locking the door behind them then headed back up the stairs. They had just closed the gates and Hermione was locking them again when there was a sudden flash and a low humming noise began. Harry and Ron moved to protect Hermione while she finished locking the door and they played the light from their wands around the large room.

It was easy to determine where the flash and humming were coming from. The orb that was the centrepiece of the collection was now pulsing in a heartbeat pattern and humming almost inaudibly. Hermione finished locking the door and came up to flank Harry on the opposite side to Ron.

"What's going on?" she said tensely.

"I don't know," Harry replied, glancing around the moonlit room warily.

A sudden movement and a terribly cracking noise drew their attention. They looked up to see the skeleton of the fantastical bird of prey pull itself free of its bindings and start to flap it wings.

"Oh, that's just not possible," Hermione said as the skeletal bird began to circle the room.

"Hermione, you've been learning magic for the last six years," Harry said flatly. "How many impossible things have you seen?"

The bird screeched and in a lightning move, dived for the trio. They scattered in separate directions and shot a variety of spells at the bird. This turned out to be fairly ineffective, the spells all passing through the skeletal frame.

An inarticulate cry from Ron had Hermione and Harry turning in his direction. They saw the red haired boy caught in the embrace of a large abstract statue. The statue, which resembled something of a mix between a dead tree and spider, had dragged itself over from the corner they remembered it being in. The two friends made a move to help Ron but quickly found themselves caught up in their own battles. Hermione found herself cornered by two suits of armour that had been standing on either side of the main doors while Harry found himself suddenly wrapped in a thick tendril of black smoke that was emanating from one of the portraits near him.

Ron spared a quick glance over at his friends and realised that he could not expect help to come from that direction; they were far too busy with their own problems. He wriggled around in the grip of the statue then yelped when the statue picked him up and started moving. He glanced around and saw where they were heading. He drew in a sharp breath and started trying to pull himself free more fervently. The statue was carrying him over to the suit of armour that had been standing in the corner near the door where they had entered. The statue with the enormous axe; the statue that was now swinging that axe around with an almost obscene amount of enthusiasm.

Ron twisted his hand around at an awkward angle until he could point his wand at one of the 'arms' the statue was using to hold him then he said firmly, "Reducto".

He made a small triumphant sound when the arm dissolved into rubble and aimed his wand at another arm. He kept going with this tactic, glancing up from time to time to check their progress. Thankfully the suit of armour didn't seem inclined to come and get him and the statue wasn't exactly quick to move. But still their inexorable motion towards the suit of armour was too quick for his liking. He'd taken care of about half of the arm when he heard a whistling sound. He glanced around then yanked his feet up and out of the way just as the axe blade bit into the floor; had he left them their the axe would probably have taken his feet off just above the ankle.

Ron wriggled around in the statue's grip and realised he'd destroyed enough of the arms that the statue could not keep a tight enough grip on him. He quickly snaked out of the statue's grip and rolled free just as the suit of armour brought its axe crashing down on the statue. His eyes widened when the statue gave a low whining noise. It then leaned forward and its remaining arms began groping around, clearly looking for him.

Ron shuddered and levelled his wand at the statue and yelled, "Reducto!"

He grinned with delight when the statue froze then crumbled into rubble. The grin faded when the suit of armour turned in his direction and started pacing towards him, swinging its axe lustily. He scrambled to his feet and pointed his wand at the statue.

"Stupefy," he shouted and watched as the light from his wand impacted on the armour. It froze momentarily then started towards him again.

"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed as he darted out of the way of the suit of armour and its axe. He pointed his wand at it again. "Reducto!"

The armour's left arm turned to rust and crumbled to the floor and Ron gave a sigh of relief before systematically destroying the rest of the suit of armour. Once he'd finished he bent over and took several deep breaths before turning to see what was happening with Harry and Hermione. He couldn't see Harry anywhere but Hermione had been backed into a corner by no less than four suits of armour and was clearly hard pressed to defend herself.

When the two suits of armour closed in on Hermione, she threw a quick Stupefy and Expelliarmus at them then ducked around them to gain more space. The two suits of armour staggered under the spells but recovered and started to stalk her. She warily backed away from them then started when a harsh voice rang out from behind her.

"A strong one! More is needed!"

She whirled around to see that one of the paintings, a portrait of a sour-looking old man, had come to life. A clanking sound behind her captured her attention and she saw the two suits of armour that had originally attacked her had been joined by four others. She hissed under her breath and whipped around, levelling her wand at the portrait.

"Incendio!" she snapped then gave a grim smile as the portrait went up in flames, the old man cursing all the way.

She turned back to the suits of armour and slowly backed towards the nearest corner. She couldn't afford to allow the suits of armour to get behind her and a quick glance showed her the Ron was a touch busy right now and she couldn't see hide nor hair of Harry. Her back bumped into the wall and she concentrated on the suits of armour. She raised her wand and aimed it at the nearest suit of armour.

"Stupefy" she yelled then grimaced as the spell made the suit freeze for a moment but then it continued to stalk towards her.

She tried a Banishing charm which knocked the suit of armour she aimed it at backwards for a couple of feet then she tried the full body-bind. That froze the suit of armour she'd aimed it at but within a few seconds the armour had broken free. She grimaced as the six suits came closer and closer then she unleashed a blasting curse.

She bared her teeth in triumph as the suit of armour she'd aimed that spell at flew apart then she cursed and put up a quick protego shield as chunks of metal rained down around her. Making a mental note _not_ to try that one again, she aimed at a second suit of armour.

"Reducto," she said firmly, suddenly remembering Harry's use of that spell during the Third Task to cut through the hedge of the maze.

She watched in satisfaction as the suit of armour crumbled into rusted rubble the Ron was bounding over.

"Can offer my assistant, my lady," he said. "Reducto!" The third suit of armour crumbled into nothing.

"Why, thank you, kind sir," Hermione replied with a grin as she took care of the fourth suit of armour. "But now that I've figured out how to get rid of the damn things, I think I'm pretty much done."

They destroyed the last two suits of armour then grinned at each other.

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked.

Hermione's grin disappeared. "He's not with you. I couldn't see him when I looked around just before."

Ron sobered and headed over to where he'd last seen Harry, Hermione on his heels. When they got there they found a few wisps of black smoke but no Harry.

"Harry?" Hermione called, frowning as she looked around.

"Hermione!" Ron gasped.

The bushy-haired girl turned to see Ron pointing at a painting on the wall with a horrified expression. The painting, which was of a fairly bucolic scene, now had a tiny Harry Potter sitting under a tree reading a book. Ron and Hermione stared at each other then back at the painting.

"What the hell do we do now?" Ron whispered in shock.

"I have no idea," Hermione replied faintly.

Ron stared at Hermione for a moment. "Should…should we call for help?"

"I think we should," Hermione said, swallowing hard. "We…may need to take the painting with us and we'll need to know if that's even possible."

Ron nodded and looked around. "I'll go out the back and send the message."

"I'll see if I can find anything here," Hermione said, not sounding very confident.

Ron turned and picked his way through the rubble of the suits of armour, heading for the back door. He was about six feet away when a hoarse croaking sound froze him to the spot. He looked up to where the sound had come from and saw the skeletal bird perched on top of a large statue. It was eying him beadily and as he stared at it, it opened its mouth and made that harsh, croaking noise again.

"Uh, Hermione," Ron called, not moving a muscle. "We've still got a little problem."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, sounding rather abstracted.

"Uh, could you please turn around and look up at what's on the big statue just near me?" Ron said with a bit more urgency.

He heard Hermione sigh and then gasp. "Oh, I forgot about that thing," she said apprehensively.

"Well, do you think you could do something about it now?" Ron said, tensing as the skeletal bird shifted its position. "I don't think I could get a spell off before it got to me."

"Okay," Hermione said and Ron heard her moving towards him. "Just don't move."

As Ron waited, he heard Hermione's footsteps stop then she said firmly, "Stupefy!"

He saw the spell hit the bird in the dead centre of its chest and for a moment it looked like it hadn't worked then it seemed to fold in on itself and slowly fell off the statue. It hit the floor and shattered, bones flying in all directions, some of them banging into Ron. He gave a huge sigh and turned to his girlfriend.

"Thanks," he said with relief. "I owe you one."

"I'll think of a way you can repay me," Hermione said with a wicked grin.

Ron returned the grin then continued on his way as Hermione turned back to the portrait. He quickly made his way out of the gallery and into the back lane. Once there he glanced around to make sure he was alone then he pulled out his wand and concentrated on the message he wanted to send to Professor McGonagall then cast the Patronus spell. He tucked his wand back into his robes and leaned against the door to wait for help to arrive.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

When the smoke wrapped around Harry, he had time for a brief glance at his friends then he was swallowed up. The smoke blinded him for a moment then cleared, leaving him standing in a small white room.

"Well, well," came a squeaky voice from behind him. "What have we here?"

Harry spun around and saw a tiny little man leaning rather casually against the wall.

"Er, who are you?" Harry said warily.

"Do you care?" the little man said with a chuckle. "Surely you'd rather get out of here?"

"Um, well, I suppose you have a point," Harry admitted, still feeling very unsure of what was going on. "So how do I do that?"

"You have to answer my questions," the little man said happily. "Well, my riddles anyway. Answer them all correctly and you get to go. Get one wrong and you pay the price."

"What…kind of price?" Harry said apprehensively, wishing he had Hermione around for this.

"You'll find out if you make a mistake," the little man said with a malicious smirk. "So…do you want to do this?"

"Do I have a choice?" Harry said with a sigh.

"Well, you could always stay here," the little man chuckled. "I gather that's a yes then."

Harry snorted. "I suppose it is."

The little man chuckled again and rubbed his hands together. "Alright, your first riddle. A spirited jig it dances bright, banishing all but brightest night, give it food and it will live, give it water and it will die."

Harry was just about to ask the little man to repeat the riddle when he waved his hand and the words appeared in midair, written in what looked like green fire. He flicked a glance at the little man but he seemed more interested in inspecting his nails than anything Harry had to say, so he went back to studying the words.

After a few minutes the little man stopped inspecting his nails and sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! It's not _that_ difficult. I've even given you a clue!"

"You have?" Harry said with surprise.

The little man rolled his eyes again and flipped a hand at the words hanging in midair. "It's there if you can see it."

Harry narrowed his eyes and stared hard at the letters written in green fire. He had to assume it wasn't anything to do with what the writing actually said. He began slowly repeating the riddle in his mind as he stared at the green fire that made up the writing. Suddenly he groaned and flicked his eyes skyward.

"Fire," he said wearily. "The answer is fire."

"Well, you got there eventually," the little man said with wry amusement. "You're right, by the way. Are you ready for your second riddle?"

"How many do I have to answer to get out of here?" Harry asked.

"Three, of course," the little man said. "I would have thought that was obvious. It's always three of anything."

"Ah, of course," Harry said blandly. "Well, let's have the second one."

The little man grinned. "Here goes; I am free for the taking for all of your life, though given but once at birth, I am less than nothing in weight, But will fell the strongest if held."

Harry sighed and watched as the little man flicked his hand, causing the riddle to appear in midair. This time it was in a strange blue flowing substance. Harry ran the riddle through his mind a few times and, remembering the last riddle, he concentrated on the substance the words were made of. He frowned as he alternated between staring at the flowing blue substance and reading the words. Finally he looked over at the little man.

"Um…air?" he said tentatively.

The little man froze then his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry," he said with genuine regret. "You're very close but I'm only allowed to accept the correct answer. It's _breath_ by the way, not air."

Harry swallowed hard. "So…what happens now?"

"You pay the price," the little man said with regret. "I hope you survive."

Harry's eyes widened then he was surrounded by a blue cloud. When the cloud disappeared, he found himself standing in the middle of a huge empty arena. He pulled his wand out of his robes and held it ready as he waited to see what this price was. A low rumbling noise drew his attention and he whirled around to see a large door slowly opening in one wall of the arena. He paled when he saw what was behind the door. Three Dementors slowly drifted out into the arena towards him and he felt the first tendrils of cold reach him.

He backed away and brought his wand up to point at the Dementors. As he did so, the Dementors seemed to sense his presence and their movement became determined and far more rapid. Harry staggered backwards and fell onto his back as he was suddenly assailed by the screams of his mother and his father's shouting. Somehow through this, he raised his wand anyway but just as he opened his mouth, the memories flooding through his mind changed. Now it was Sirius' voice he heard; his godfather's last triumphant cry just before Bellatrix's curse hit him and he fell through the Veil.

The wand dropped from his hand as Harry cried out Sirius' name and he felt the cold generated by the Dementors surround him. It was this cold that partially dragged him out of the terrible memories he was caught in. He forced his eyes open and saw the three Dementors surrounding him. The one directly in front of him was reaching towards him with its skeletal hands. Harry gasped and groped after his wand. He snatched it up and pointed it at the Dementor, dragging up the first happy memory he could think of…his first kiss with Ginny.

"Ex…Expecto patronum!" he gasped out.

A thin silvery mist flowed out of the end of his wand. It wasn't much but it was enough to make the three Dementors draw back. He grasped his wand more tightly and summoned up that happy memory again.

"Expecto patronum," he said, much more firmly this time and this time the silver stag burst out of the end of his wand.

The stag gathered itself then charged at the three Dementors, first rounding them up then herding them away from Harry. As Harry watched the silver stag drove the Dementors against the wall of the arena and then, much to his surprise, it impaled them one by one on its horns. As it did so, each Dementor wailed then disappeared. Once that was done, the stag galloped back, fading just as it came to a halt in front of him.

Before Harry had time to do more that take a deep breath, he was once again surrounded by the blue cloud. When it faded again, he found himself back in the white room with the little man.

"Oh, you survived!" the little man said with pleased surprise. "I wasn't sure if you would. Well, this is good news."

Harry still felt shaken and upset from his encounter with the Dementors. The last thing he'd expected was to hear Sirius' voice again though in hindsight, he perhaps should have realised that night would rank fairly high as a bad memory. "Yeah," he gasped out.

"Oh, dear," the little man said, looking at Harry with concern. "Oh, dear, what on earth did you face? It's all very personal, you see. The price you pay for getting an answer wrong. Not many people actually return."

"Dementors," Harry replied shortly, once he'd deciphered the little man's rattling speech.

"Oh, that wouldn't have been very pleasant," the little man said. "I've never met someone as young as you who has such a problem with Dementors. Do you feel ready for your last riddle?"

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. The sooner I get out of here the better."

The little man looked oddly disappointed then he recovered and drew himself up to his somewhat insignificant height.

"Ready?" he said, a smile creeping across his face. "It is greater than all the gods, more evil than any demon. Poor people have it, rich people want it. If you eat it, you will surely die. What is it?"

Harry blinked. "Um, can you write that in the air like you did with the others?"

"Nope," the little man said with a smug smile. "I can't do anything with this one. I can repeat it though."

"Please," Harry said.

"It is greater than all the gods, more evil than any demon. Poor people have it, rich people want it. If you eat it, you will surely die. What is it?"

Harry muttered the riddle to himself and tried to figure out what significance was attached to the fact that the little man wouldn't put the words up. Since the last two times had been relevant to the answer to the riddle, he had to assume that this one was as well. The problem was the riddle seemed like such a contradiction. What do poor people have that rich people want? And how could something be both greater than all the gods _and_ more evil than any demon?

Harry sighed and wished that Hermione had been brought into this place with him. He then wondered what had happened to Ron and Hermione. Had they been taken into a place like this or had they been left in the gallery? He shook his head and dismissed those thoughts from his mind. He had to concentrate on the riddle he had been set. He absolutely did _not_ want another repeat of his encounter with the Dementors. The problem was nothing seemed to fit the whole riddle. There were things that fit _parts_ of it but nothing…

Harry groaned as the answer hit him between the eyes. The little man had given him _nothing_. And there it was. _Nothing_ was greater than all the gods, _nothing_ was more evil than any demon. Poor people have _nothing_, rich people want _nothing_. And if you eat _nothing_, you will surely die.

"The answer is nothing," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, well done!" the little man said, clapping his hands together excitedly. "That one so often trips people up. Well, you've answered my riddles so I have to let you go. However, because you got one wrong I can't just let you go completely."

Harry sighed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" he muttered to himself before looking at the little man. "So what happens now?"

"You have to go through one of those doors?"

The little man pointed to the wall behind Harry and he turned around to see two large wooden doors in what he was fairly sure had been a blank wall. He turned back to the little man only to find he was alone in the room. Harry sighed and faced the doors. They were large wooden doors, both with doorknockers in the shape of a face. The face on the left door was long and thin while the face on the right door was round and fat. Both had the actually knocker hanging from their chins. Harry slowly walked towards the doors and examined the knockers.

"I wonder what this is all about?" he muttered then jumped backwards with an oath as both doorknockers opened their eyes and looked at him.

"'Ello," the round doorknocker said happily.

"Hello," the thin one said calmly.

"Er, hello," Harry replied warily. "I…don't suppose you know which door I'm supposed to go through to get out?"

"Yes," the doorknockers chorused then the thin one continued. "Both of our doors lead you out but only one gives you a safe passage out. The other one's pretty dangerous."

"So…which one is the safe one?" Harry asked slowly.

"Oh, we can't tell you _that_," the round doorknocker replied in a scandalised tone.

"Oh no!" the thin doorknocker agreed. "That's not in the rules at all."

Harry sighed. "So what _are_ the rules?"

"You can ask us one question only," the thin doorknocker said firmly.

"But you can only ask _one_ of us that question," the round doorknocker added.

"And one of us is lying. That's in the rules too," the thin one concluded. He looked towards the other doorknocker. "_He_ always lies."

"That's not true," the round doorknocker said indignantly. "He's lying. _I'm_ the one that tells the truth."

"Oooh, that's a _lie_," the thin doorknocker responded.

Harry stared at the two doorknockers as they began arguing back and forth, cries of "You're lying" and "No, _you're_ lying" echoing in his ears. He ran a hand through his hair and he desperately tried to think of a question that could help him out of this mess. Hermione would have done this easily and he remembered how well she had handled Snape's riddle when they had gone after the Philosopher's Stone.

He paced back and forth in the room and he racked his brain, ignoring the two doorknockers. They in turned stopped their bickering, obviously not finding it much fun without an audience and they settled into watching Harry pace.

"Okay," Harry muttered to himself. "There no point trying to find out which one is lying since I only have one question and I can only ask one of them. So…I need a question that both doorknockers will give the same answer to." He sighed. "What kind of question can do that?" Movement out of the corner of his eyes had him whipping around to face the doorknocker. "That wasn't a question to either of you! I was talking to myself."

The two doorknockers grinned and subsided as Harry continued to pace, muttering under his breath as he tried to find an appropriate question. He paced for quite a long time then finally sighed and turned to face the doors. He wasn't entirely sure this would work but he was fairly sure his logic was intact.

He pointed to the thin doorknocker on the left-hand door. "Alright, you there, answer yes or no. Would _he_," he pointed to the right-hand doorknocker, "tell me _this_ door," he pointed to the left-hand door, "leads to the safe way out?"

The thin doorknocker stared at Harry for a long moment then looked over at the round doorknocker. The two knockers conferred in whispers.

Finally the thin doorknocker looked back at Harry. "Uh…yes."

"Then the other door leads to the safe way out," Harry said with a confidence he didn't _quite_ feel.

"How do you know?" the thin doorknocker said in an aggrieved tone. "He could be telling the truth."

"But then you wouldn't be," Harry replied, testing his logic. "So if you told me that he would say yes, then the answer is no."

The two doorknockers exchanged dubious glances.

"But I could be telling the truth," the thin doorknocker said smugly.

"But then _he_ would be lying," Harry said, pointing to the round doorknocker. "So if you told me that he would say yes then I still know the answer is no."

The thin doorknocker frowned and thought that through. "Is that right?" he asked the round doorknocker.

The round doorknocker had a kind of facial shrug. "I don't know but I can't argue against it."

"I'm right," Harry said firmly, feeling more solid in his logic this time.

He walked forward and threw the right-hand door open, stepping through it confidently.

Ron didn't have to wait long for a response to his message. About fifteen minutes after he'd sent off his patronus, Moody came striding down the back lane with Minerva and Remus in his wake.

Moody frowned as he saw Ron's casual yet tense posture. "What's wrong, Weasley?" he barked.

Ron took a deep breath. "We've had a…slight problem occur."

"Is the Horcrux not here?" Remus asked anxiously.

"It was here," Ron said as he gestured for them to follow him. "Harry's got it but there's a problem with Harry."

"What _kind_ of problem?" Minerva asked ominously.

"He's…sort of gone missing," Ron said as he pushed the doors to the gallery's main room open.

The adults' eyes widened as they saw the rubble lying on the floor.

"What happened?" Minerva asked sharply.

"There were some defences put in place to protect the Horcrux," Ron replied as they walked over to where Hermione was examining the painting that now seemed to contain Harry.

"Where's Harry?" Remus said flatly, drawing Hermione's attention.

"We're not…really sure," she said carefully. "When we brought the Horcrux up from the basement, that orb over there started to glow and hum. That seemed to activate the defences that had been put in place. A few sculptures came to life along with some suits of armour. Ron and I got cornered by those. Harry seems to have disappeared. Both Ron and I were a bit caught up with defending ourselves and didn't see what happened but once we'd sorted everything out we found this."

She pointed to the painting. The adults leaned forward and Hermione knew they'd seen the tiny Harry in the painting when they drew in shocked breaths.

"There's a lot of magic in that painting and I don't recognise much of it," Hermione continued; she'd had plenty of time to swallow he apprehension and worry. "I wouldn't even know where to start with trying to get Harry out of there. What I want to know for now is whether it's safe to take the painting with us."

Moody stumped forward and pulled his wand out. He peered closely at the painting and prodded it with his wand.

"Has it moved at all?" he growled.

"Not that I've noticed," Hermione replied smartly. "Certainly not since we found the…addition. I thought all of the paintings in here were Muggle ones. I'd almost think this one was as well if not for the magic in it."

"Could still be a muggle painting, just with spells added to it," Moody grumbled as he examined the frame.

The ex-Auror then stepped back and cast a spell over the painting. The painting glowed blue for a moment then faded and Moody grunted.

"It'll be safe enough to take down," he reported. "Whatever spells are involved are on the painting itself. There's nothing that's going to activate if we remove it."

Moody had just stepped forward to lift the painting off the wall when black smoke began to billow out of it. He leapt back with a startled oath and levelled his wand at the painting. Remus, Minerva, Ron and Hermione fanned out and did the same. The black smoke billowed out and formed a column in front of the painting and, as suddenly as it had appeared, it dissipated leaving only wisps and a very tired Harry Potter behind.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped then she launched herself at her friend and hugged him hard.

"Ease up, Hermione," Harry said wearily. "I'm okay."

He looked around and was surprised to see the adults standing in front of him. He looked down at Hermione.

"How long was I gone?"

Hermione checked her watch. "About an hour, I think. What _happened_? You just disappeared and all we found was _you_ painted into the painting behind you. That's why we called for help."

Harry looked behind him. "No, I'm not."

Hermione shoved him aside rather unceremoniously and examined the painting. "Oh! You're gone. There was a little version of you sitting under that tree reading a book."

"She's right, mate," Ron added.

"What actually happened to you, Harry?" Remus asked, tucking his wand back into his robes. "Where did you go?"

Harry shuddered slightly. "I don't know exactly where I ended up. I was in a room with a little man and I had to answer three riddles to get out. I could have done with you being there, Hermione." He grinned wryly at the bushy-haired girl.

"You can't have done too badly," Hermione replied with a smile. "You got out."

Harry shuddered again. "I got two out of the three riddles right," he said flatly. "The little man told me at the start that if I got one wrong, I'd have to pay a price."

"What was the price?" Moody asked grimly.

"Dementors," Harry replied in a voice that all but toneless. "Three of them. I heard my parents…and…and Sirius."

Moody and Minerva drew in sharp breaths while Remus closed his eyes and hung his head. Ron and Hermione stepped forward and each slung an arm around Harry's shoulders. The trio stood there silently for a moment then Harry nodded to his friends. They stepped back and Harry took a deep breath.

"You got one wrong then?" Ron said with as much wry humour as he could manage.

"I was close," Harry replied in a similar manner. "Anyway, then because I'd got one wrong I couldn't just leave, I had to face another riddle in order to get out."

"What kind of riddles?" Hermione asked with interest.

Harry gave her a far more genuine smile than anything he'd managed so far. "Can I tell you later?" He looked around the room and blinked. "What happened here?"

"We had fun with the suits of armour and that big bird," Ron said dryly. "Thankfully they were a little vulnerable to the Reducto curse."

"We'd better clean this up," Hermione said suddenly. "It's bad enough the Horcrux, armour and bird are going to be missing tomorrow, leaving this mess would make things ten times worse."

"Easily done, Miss Granger," Minerva said then with a wave of her wand the rubble was gone.

"Let's get out of here," Moody growled before anyone else could say anything. "The longer we stay the more likely we are to get caught. We were just lucky that the owners of this place never felt the need to have security guards."

The group headed towards the back door to the gallery, Harry shooting one last troubled look at the painting that had captured him.

"Were you able to find out _why_ they don't have guards?" Hermione asked as they walked down the corridor towards the back door. "It's very odd for a place like this."

"They like their security system," Moody replied as he held the door open. "And they spent a lot of money on it. Their budget isn't that great at the moment so something had to be cut. They decided they would rely on the security system." He paused then shrugged. "It is a good one as far as these things go. Just not enough to stop wizards and witches."

"Are there security systems that do that?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, but you've got to be part of the magical community to know about them," Moody grunted then he looked pointedly at Hermione. "Planning on putting this one back on line."

Hermione gasped and blushed. "Sorry, Professor. I got distracted."

"In future, don't," Moody said bluntly as Hermione scurried back inside and removed the spell she had placed on the gallery's security system.

Once that was done, Hermione joined the others outside as Moody locked the door. Harry pulled his cloak out of his robes and waited while everyone else walked down the lane and out of range of the security cameras. Once that was done, he threw the cloak over his head and ducked back under the camera, removing the spell he'd placed on it earlier. He then joined the others and they apparated back to the gates of Hogwarts.

"I want the three of you to get some sleep," Moody ordered as they walked back up to the school. "We'll have a debriefing tomorrow afternoon. Just as well it's a Saturday."

The trio nodded. "Can someone contact Aberforth and ask him when he'll be able to start training me in grounding magical energy?" Harry asked. "I don't want to wait too long before destroying the Horcrux."

"I'll do that," Remus volunteered. "I'll sort out times if you like. I know your schedule."

"Thanks," Harry replied. He paused in the middle of the Entrance Hall and pulled the velvet bag out of his robes, handing it carefully to Minerva. "You'd better put this in a safe place, Professor."

The Headmistress nodded. "Come and see me when you need to get it."

The trio waved at the adults and headed up to Gryffindor Tower; the night had been long and in many ways very distressing.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

When Harry woke up the next morning the dormitory was empty and from the angle of the sun through the window it was probably close to midday. He crawled out of bed and yawned his way through a shower and getting dressed then headed down to the common room.

"Hey, Harry!" came Ron's cheerful greeting when he got downstairs. The common room was nearly empty and the redhead had snagged a secluded corner.

Harry scowled at his friend. "How is it that you're so damn cheery when we both went to bed at the same time?"

Ron grinned. "Well, I didn't have to spend my time doing all that thinking last night. Besides I've had breakfast."

Harry dropped down into a squashy armchair. "Don't say that, I'm hungry. Where's Hermione?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Where else? In the library. She was curious about that painting that sucked you in last night and wanted to see if she could find what kind of magic might do that."

"I'm not sure if want to know the answer to that or not," Harry said uneasily.

Ron hesitated for a moment. "Are you alright about…everything?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I…wasn't quite expecting what happened with the Dementors. I mean I expected to hear my Mum and Dad but that bit with Sirius was…" He broke off and shivered.

"Yeah," Ron said, looking like he wasn't entirely sure what to do.

He was saved from having to say anything by Hermione coming in through the entrance hole. She looked frustrated as she sat down next to Ron.

"Any luck?" Ron asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"No, not a thing," Hermione said with a sigh. "I couldn't even find anything in the Restricted Section."

"Ask Flitwick or Moody," Harry suggested. "If they don't have anything, they'll probably be able to point you in the right direction."

Hermione smiled. "I plan to but Professor Moody's off doing something for the Order and Professor Flitwick's chaperoning the Hogsmeade visit today."

Harry glanced around the room. "Oh, that's where everyone is. I forgot that was today."

"Well, we have advantages that the others don't," Hermione replied. "Hogsmeade isn't quite as out of bounds for us as it is for the others."

Ron bounced to his feet and looked down at Harry. "Come on, Harry. You must be hungry and lunch'll be ready by now."

"Do you ever think of anything other than your stomach?" Harry said as he and Hermione got to their feet. He was starting to feel a little better, the horrors of last night receding a bit with Ron and Hermione's determined normalcy.

"Hey, I'm just a growing boy," Ron said expansively as they headed out of the common room.

"You keep growing you're going to end up bigger than Hagrid," Harry said dryly, giving the Fat Lady a friendly nod.

"All the better to lord it over you midgets," Ron said with a grin as he did his best to loom over Harry and Hermione.

Harry laughed as Hermione elbowed Ron in the ribs. Ron threw an arm around Hermione's shoulders and his other arm around Harry's shoulders and the trio made their way down to the Entrance Hall together.

The Gryffindor table was only sparsely populated with a few First and Second Years when they came in and they took seats at one end. They served themselves and the conversation stayed very firmly in the mundane and normal. Harry was just contemplating whether he wanted anything for sweets when several loud gasps drew his attention. He looked up to see a silver falcon flying straight towards him and he immediately recognised Ginny's Patronus. He'd told her and Neville and Luna how to pass on messages to the Order shortly after school started.

The falcon flew down and hovered in front of his face and Ginny's voice, sounding intent and frantic, came from it.

"Harry! Death Eaters. Snape and Draco! In Hogsmeade! Bring help!"

The Patronus disappeared into a spray of silver and for a second Harry stared at Ron and Hermione then Ron leapt to his feet. Harry did the same and grabbed Ron's arm, yanking him to a halt.

"No! We change into our Trinity robes," Harry demanded. "They've got protective spells on them and we'll need them!"

Ron stared at Harry for a long moment then he nodded and the trio took off for the Gryffindor Tower at a dead run. They pounded up to the Fat Lady with Harry yelling the password out then they tore up the stairs to their dorms. Harry and Ron yanked their Trinity uniforms on and then pounded down the stairs. Hermione came bursting out into the common room, tying her hair up, at the same time as the boys and Harry paused only long enough to grab one of the students still in the common room.

"Go to the Headmistress," he ordered the young boy. "Tell her that Death Eaters are attacking in Hogsmeade and she needs to get help. GO!"

The young boy nodded frantically then took off out of the Entrance Hole with Harry, Ron and Hermione hot on his heels. They separated when the boy went up to the Headmistress' office while the trio headed down for the Entrance Hall. They pounded down the path to Hogsmeade pulling their wands out as they ran. As they ran through the gates they could see the flash of spells ahead of them.

"How do we do this?" Ron yelled as they ran.

"Straight in, frontal attack. We want to get them to take a step back," Harry yelled back. "Then split up. Make sure the students are safe. Get the DA organised if they're not already."

Ron and Hermione nodded then they were turning the corner into the main street of Hogsmeade. It wasn't difficult to work out what was happening. The Death Eaters were obvious in their black robes and white masks but they were surprised that there were no students immediately obvious. They had no time to look for them as the Death Eaters had turned to face the new threat. The trio didn't hesitate and started firing off spell after spell in rapid succession the way Moody had taught them.

Four Death Eaters fell immediately and the others ducked behind shelter. Harry, Ron and Hermione spilt up with Harry heading for shelter in the doorway to Zonko's, Ron ducking into the alley next to Honeydukes while Hermione headed for the Three Broomsticks.

Ron had just slammed into the alleyway and was about to sneak a look back out into the street to determine the positions of the Death Eaters when someone grabbed his arm. He whirled around and slammed the person against the wall, his wand at their throat.

"Ron!" Ginny said in a choked voice and Ron let her go with alacrity.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Getting everyone out," Ginny replied. "Luna and I and most of the DA have most of the students heading up the passageway from Honeydukes to Hogwarts but Neville's with a group in the Three Broomsticks. He's got Terry Boot, Padma Patil and Ernie MacMillan from the DA with him but that's all."

"Alright. We'll take care of it," Ron said firmly. "Get out of here. Your job is to get those students to safety."

Ginny nodded once then turned and ducked back into Honeydukes via a side door. Harry looked over to where Harry was crouched and waved his hand until he got his friend's attention. Moody had taught them the series of hand signals that the Aurors used and Ron used the signals for 'N', 'D' and 'A' then the ones for 'pub' and 'children'. Harry frowned for a moment then waved his understanding, pointing to where Hermione was crouched in the lee of the doorway of the pub. Ron nodded back then used red sparks to get Hermione's attention. He repeated the selection of hand signals and she nodded and disappeared into the pub.

By this time the Death Eaters had regrouped slightly and had been joined by two more people. These two newcomers had a discussion with the Death Eaters then pulled their masks off, revealing themselves as Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy. There was a small flurry behind them then another Death Eater joined them and ripped of her mask to reveal Bellatrix Lestrange, her eyes gleaming madly.

Ron looked over to see Harry tensed and breathing hard, his face a mask of anger and Ron wondered how much of that was for show.

"Come out! Come out and play, little baby Potter," Bellatrix called out in a singsong voice.

"Why would I do that?" Harry called back, his voice taut with anger. He knew he had to buy enough time for the teachers and whatever other help the Headmistress could summon to arrive.

"Are you _scared_?" Bellatrix taunted. "Are you _fwightened_?"

"Hardly," Harry called back.

"Who would have thought _Potter_ would lack the mindless courage to take on his enemies?" Snape sneered.

Ron saw Harry roll his eyes and snort though none of that showed in his reply.

"_Some_ of us are more than we seem," he replied, his voice full of vitriol. "While some are exactly the murdering bastard they always came across as."

They could almost hear the snarl from Snape and both wondered whether Harry had perhaps pushed a little too far. Just then a small crack drew Ron's attention back down the alley. A flash of black and the glimpse of a white mask had him flinging a hex in that direction, smiling in satisfaction when a pained grunt and a sudden scrabbling retreat spoke of his success.

"Harry! They're trying to flank us," he called out, triggering sniggers from Bellatrix.

He saw Harry grimace then Hermione reappeared from the inside the pub. She caught their attention and gave them the okay sign. Harry then signalled back what he wanted them to do. Ron and Hermione nodded then Harry gave them the countdown. At his signal the Trinity leapt out from their places of concealment, throwing hexes and curse at the Death Eaters. They were too well hunkered down for the spells to have much effect but it did allow the trio to meet up. Once they were together Ron and Hermione took flanking positions on either side of Harry and they attacked.

Harry very carefully began to aim his spells to where he had seen Snape, Draco and Bellatrix hide when the trio emerged. While ordinarily he would not have been so precise in what he was doing, the presence of Snape required a certain amount of subterfuge. He needed to _look_ like he was attacking them while ensuring he didn't harm them too much. He didn't much care if he accidentally hit Draco or Bellatrix but he felt he ought to try and avoid making Snape's life any more difficult than it currently was.

While Harry was pinning down the senior Death Eaters, Ron and Hermione were alternately throwing curses at the remaining Death Eaters and protecting the trio from the retaliatory strikes. Loud cracks from behind them had Harry glancing around to see which side the new arrivals were on. He sighed with relief when he caught sight of Kingsley Shacklebolt then concentrated on the senior Death Eaters again.

"Aurors!" came the cry from the partially concealed Death Eaters then they heard Snape's sharp voice say, "Apparate away."

Loud cracks from in front of them told them that the Death Eaters were obeying their orders then there came a loud shriek.

"No! Not again!"

Bellatrix Lestrange burst from her place of concealment, Snape grabbing at her but missing. Harry sent Snape flying back into hiding with a few judiciously placed curses then turned his attention to Bellatrix. The insane woman was running towards them at breakneck speed, somehow managing to either dodge the hexes Ron and Hermione were throwing at her or deflect them with spells of her own.

When he realised that she was not planning on stopping, Harry threw a quick Impedimenta in her direction then yelled, "Scatter and surround!"

Ron and Hermione reacted to the order in the way that they'd been trained. The three friends ducked and rolled in different directions, coming to their feet to form the points of a triangle around the startled Bellatrix. They pointed their wands at the insane witch and yelled in unison, "Stupefy!" The moment the spells had left their wands, they darted to their right to avoid any retaliation.

The spells hit the witch at the same time. She clearly had some kind of shielding spell surrounding her but the impact of the three powerful stupefication spells overwhelmed it and Bellatrix went down hard. The Trinity immediately moved back into their tight formation with Hermione supplying the shielding while Harry and Ron started looking for any remaining Death Eaters. They moved purposefully towards where the Death Eaters had been hunkered down and were rewarded by the flash of black robes.

They ran forward just in time to see both Snape and Draco apparate out. They then turned on their heels and went to meet with Kingsley.

"Was that Snape that I saw?" Kingsley asked them when they got within hearing range.

"Yes," Harry said sharply. "And Draco Malfoy. They both apparated out though."

Kingsley frowned as he looked around the main street. "This was a Hogsmeade weekend, wasn't it? Were any students hurt?"

"Minor injuries," Hermione replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Some of the DA got them into the Three Broomsticks and the rest were evacuated by the rest of the DA back to the school via a secret passageway from Honeydukes."

Kingsley looked impressed as did the other Aurors within earshot. A sudden, loud crack had everyone turning with their wands raised but that was quickly changed when they all recognised the imposing figure of Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic. The former Auror looked around him with his keen gaze then strode over to where Kingsley and the trio were standing. He paused in front of them and eyed the matching uniforms of the Trinity with interest.

"Well, Shacklebolt?" he said crisply.

"Death Eaters, Minister," Kingsley reported. "Led by all appearances by Snape and the Lestrange woman. Draco Malfoy was also with them." A tiny smile graced his lips as he continued, "We were hardly needed it seems."

Scrimgeour turned his yellow gaze to Harry and his friends. "Hmm, I've been hearing odd rumours of a Trinity. I gather that would be you and your friends, Mr Potter."

Harry drew himself up as Ron and Hermione moved into closer flanking positions. Scrimgeour did not miss any of this.

"Yes, Minister. We are the Trinity," Harry said firmly.

Scrimgeour looked around again then glanced down at the unconscious Bellatrix Lestrange. His eyes when they returned to Harry and his friends were filled with wry amusement.

"Shacklebolt, get this mess cleaned up and see if anyone was injured," Scrimgeour said. "Mr Potter, I would like to have a word with you and your friends."

Harry nodded warily then the trio followed the Minister when he headed for the Three Broomsticks. They walked in to find several pale and frightened students sitting in the far corner with Madam Rosmerta, Neville Longbottom, Terry Boot, Padma Patil and Ernie MacMillan standing between them and the door, their wands out and stern expressions on their faces. Those expressions faded in ones of relief when they saw who had just walked in.

"Minister!" Madam Rosmerta cried as the members of the DA looked at Harry.

"Did Ginny and Luna get the others out?" Neville asked urgently, ignoring the Minister.

"Yes," Ron replied and Neville and the others heaved a sigh of relief.

"See!" Terry Boot said with frustration. "We _could_ have gone out and helped."

"No, you couldn't," Harry said grimly. "Terry, your responsibility was to look after the students. They're injured and if the Death Eaters had gotten in here they would have needed all of you _right here_ to protect them. Staying here was far more important than anything else you could have done out there."

"Mr Potter is absolutely correct, young man," Minister Scrimgeour said from where he was standing next to Madam Rosmerta. "Winning a battle isn't always about throwing spells around. Sometimes it's about protecting what's important. You did that and did it well. Now, continue that good work and get your fellow students back up to the school. There are Aurors outside to help you."

Terry looked surprised then as Harry and the Minister's words hit home, he began to look proud and determined. He and the other DA members turned and helped the other students to their feet and they slowly trickled out of the pub.

Once they were gone, Scrimgeour looked over at Madam Rosmerta. "Mind if we use the back room, Rosmerta?"

"Not at all, Minister," Rosmerta replied. "Would you like anything to drink?"

A quick grin flashed across Scrimgeour's face. "Butterbeers all round might go down well."

The proprietor of the pub quickly bustled around and soon had the trio and the Minister settled in the back room with a generous supply of Butterbeer. She then smiled at them and left the room, closing the door behind her. The Minster gestured for the trio to drink then took a bottle himself.

"Now, Mr Potter," he said firmly. "I have no intention of continuing the line of conversation we had last time we spoke. It is clear that you intend to be your own man and I learnt long ago when to cut my losses."

Harry nodded warily though he did relax slightly at the Minister's words. He had been steeling himself for another round of arguments with Scrimgeour.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised really," Scrimgeour continued in an almost contemplative tone as he stared into the distance. "Your father was very stubborn and independent. As was your mother. We tried to recruit them both into the Aurors but they were already working for Dumbledore in some capacity." His gaze sharpened as he looked back at Harry and his voice became more decisive. "It seems the past is coming back to haunt the future and I have to make some decisions."

Harry drew in a breath and was about to speak when the Minister held his hand up.

"I know you have some kind of task that was placed on your shoulders by Dumbledore," he said firmly. "Shacklebolt told me that much though he wouldn't elaborate. I won't interfere since he assures me it is vitally important in the fight against Voldemort. I could wish you would work more closely with the Ministry but given what I've been told in the past few months about your prior dealings with us, I can understand your reluctance. That and I know you have been trained by Alastor Moody. Be that as it may, you have my full support and backing. If you need the Ministry's help, be it the Aurors, the Unspeakables or whoever else, do not hesitate to call upon us."

The Minister stood and held out his hand. "Good luck, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger."

The trio shook hands with the Minster, wondering whether they'd fallen into some kind of alternate dimension. They'd never found it this easy to deal with the Ministry before.

"Sir?" Harry said when the Minster turned to leave. Scrimgeour turned back and raised an eyebrow.

Harry let a small, wicked grin grow on his face. "If you or any of the Aurors feel the need to talk about the Trinity by all means do so."

Scrimgeour stared at the three friends intently then amusement grew on his face. "Giving Voldemort something to worry about, are you? Well, I think we can see that some interesting facts get leaked to the press. That's what Government departments do best after all."

The Minster chuckled as he opened the door then he sobered and turned around again, this time directing his intent, yellow-eyed gaze on Ron.

"Mr Weasley," he said slowly. "Far be it for me to interfere in a family's decisions but you might wish to contact your brother, Percy. He's come a long way since I have taken over and I find him to be a very promising young man. But like many young men he is stubborn and sometimes a touch…clueless about how to go about certain things. An olive branch extended would be accepted with enthusiasm, I believe."

With that extraordinary statement the Minister walked out the door. Harry looked over at his friends and shook his head.

"Well, that was different," he said slowly. "Some things haven't changed in that the Minister of Magic still isn't letting me get a word in edgewise but this one is _definitely_ different in other ways."

"I thought Moody said he didn't like to admit that he was wrong," Ron said absently, his mind clearly on other things.

"Maybe he's changed," Hermione replied, shooting concerned looks at her boyfriend. "Or maybe he's just realised that there are some things he can't control."

"Well, I don't really care about the why, I'm just glad he's not going to interfere," Harry said firmly then he looked over at Ron. "Are you going to contact Percy? He was at Bill and Fleur's wedding, you know."

"Yeah, I saw the git," Ron replied uncertainly. "He didn't stay long though. What did he mean?"

"I think he meant that Percy wants to apologise but isn't quite sure how to go about it," Hermione replied softly. "He said some terrible things to your Dad and he's probably very embarrassed about that. He also probably knows how the rest of the family reacted." She paused. "And he was wrong, _very_ wrong. That can be a little hard to accept sometimes. I should know." She smiled wryly.

Ron scowled. "That's what I don't understand. He was in Gryffindor with the rest of us. He _knew_ Harry. How could he just not believe him like that?"

Harry shrugged but Hermione looked thoughtful.

"I may have an answer," she said slowly. "I don't know if it's the right one but it makes sense."

"I'll take any kind of explanation," Ron grumbled. "I know I've made mistakes in the past but I _always_ believed Harry about Voldemort."

"Percy likes his world to be neat and tidy and logical," Hermione said. "He likes everything in its place and everyone to follow the rules. But if Voldemort is around then all of that neatness and tidiness goes out the window. Rules will be broken, people will do what needs to be done whether or not it's logical and things will get messy. Fudge offered him what he wanted; a neat little world of denial where everything could proceed where he wanted. Believing Harry would bring that messy, illogical world to his doorstep. And there's also the fact that your family is openly friendly to Muggles even though they are a pureblood family with a long history. That would make them very visible and desirable targets for Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Maybe he felt that if he conformed to what the Minister wanted it would provide him and his family with protection."

Ron opened his mouth to react then he shut it with an audible snap as he thought about what Hermione had said. Finally he sagged and sighed.

"I hope you're right, Hermione," he said with a grimace. "Because that sounds kind of sensible."

"So will you contact Percy?" Harry asked again.

Ron drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. "Yeah," he admitted. "Yeah, I guess I will. But I'm not going to tell Mum and Dad until I see what Percy has to say. I don't want to get their hopes up."

With that the trio headed out of the pub. Once outside they found the Aurors starting to portkey away with the unconscious Death Eaters and they walked over to where Kingsley was still standing over Bellatrix Lestrange.

"What are you going to do with her?" Harry asked with undisguised loathing.

"Interrogate her," Kingsley replied. "She's been in Voldemort's inner circle so she should have a great deal to tell us." He paused and gave Harry a sympathetic look. "I'll make sure I try and steer the conversation around to Pettigrew. If we can get confirmation from her that Pettigrew is still alive then we can ensure that Sirius' name is finally _officially_ cleared. It's not much but he deserves that much at least."

Harry nodded his thanks. "Just make sure she doesn't get out again. I think Neville would appreciate that as well."

Kingsley nodded solemnly. "We'll do our best."

With that Harry turned and the trio started heading up towards the castle. Once they were past the gates, Harry glanced at his friends.

"We'll go down to Hogsmeade tonight," he murmured. "Hopefully Snape will be back from wherever he's gone and we can find out how Voldemort's reacted to this."

Ron and Hermione nodded and they continued on their way.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

The moment they set foot inside the castle they were pounced on by the teachers, all demanding explanations for the sudden and rather frightened return of the students. It took the appearance of Remus and the Headmistress to calm things down and the trio were escorted to the Headmistress' office. She got them seated with cups of tea before fixing them with a stern gaze.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"We got a patronus message from Ginny telling us Death Eaters were attacking in Hogsmeade," Harry reported. "And that Snape and Draco were there as well."

Minerva's eyes blazed. "In Hogsmeade?"

Harry nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt about having to keep the Headmistress in the dark about everything that had happened. "They seemed to be leading the attack. We went down, we fought, the Aurors and the Minister arrived and the Death Eaters ran." He shrugged. "Not much else to tell you."

"What did the Minister want?" Remus asked curiously. "Kingsley sent word he was coming."

"Just to tell me that while he'd like it a whole lot more if I was working with the Ministry, he understands and supports me with whatever it is that I'm doing," Harry replied with satisfaction. "I think Kingsley's been talking to him."

"He has," Minerva said with a tight smile. "He wanted to try and smooth things over a bit so that you weren't interfered with. You may have to move fast at some point and Ministry interference could be deadly."

"That's good to hear," Harry said with relief.

"And certainly explains the Minister's behaviour today," Hermione added.

"How bad were the injuries?" Harry asked.

"Nothing too serious," Minerva said with relief. "Mostly a result of ricochets from spells hitting the walls from what Poppy said." She frowned. "Which is rather odd. She reported that the students said it was Severus casting most of the spells and it is unusual for him to be so inaccurate."

"Maybe the students were moving too quickly for much in the way of accuracy," Hermione said quickly. "It looks like the DA got everyone moving into shelter in a hurry."

Minerva's face cleared. "Ah yes, you may have a point." She stood and gave them a tight smile. "Thank you for your information. I'll let you go and get changed."

"Are you going to cancel future Hogsmeade visits?" Ron asked as the trio headed for the door.

"I'm afraid I'll have to," Minerva said. "The parents need to be sure that their children will be safe here."

The trio nodded and left the office. They walked slowly down the stairs and headed for the Gryffindor Tower. Once they got there they had to stop in the common room to answer the clamorous questions from their fellow students. Most of the questions came from the DA members, wanting to know if they had done the right thing. Harry, Ron and Hermione assured them they had then headed upstairs to get changed. They then left the Tower and spent the rest of the day in the Head Students' room to avoid the fussing of the rest of the students. By the time they went down for dinner, things had calmed down significantly and they were able to eat with a minimum of disruption.

After dinner they returned to Gryffindor Tower and claimed a quiet corner to wait for everyone to go to bed. Once the common room had cleared, Harry snuck up to the dorm and retrieved his cloak and the Marauder's Map. They slipped out of the common room, clambered under the cloak and crept out of the castle. They made directly for the Hog's Head and slid in through the back door. They made sure they were alone then Harry pressed the small section of wall that opened the door to Dumbledore's hideaway and they headed down.

The Headmaster was sitting in an armchair, reading from a book, and he looked up sharply as they came into the room and Harry pulled the cloak off.

"I was rather expecting to see the three of you tonight," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I caught most of that little confrontation today. Well done, all of you. I see Moody has done some fine work."

Harry smiled as he dropped down onto the couch, Ron and Hermione joining him. "Moody's been a hard taskmaster but I think we can definitely say it's been worth it."

"Good," Dumbledore replied. "I gather you are here to speak to Severus. I'm afraid he has yet to return."

"Is that bad?" Hermione asked, looking worried.

"Not as yet," Dumbledore replied calmly, though there was concern lurking in his eyes. "Voldemort has a tendency to keep his Death Eaters close after something has gone wrong."

The trio grimaced at that then Harry shook his head.

"I nearly forgot, we found the Ravenclaw artefact," he said.

Dumbledore looked startled. "Already? Wonderful!" He beamed at Harry and his friends then sobered, his expression becoming proud and pleased. "I worried that I had placed too heavy a task on your shoulders, Harry, giving you both the responsibility for the Order as well as the job of finding and destroying the Horcruxes. I had hoped not to have to do that but circumstances did not work out the way I had wanted. But it seems my worries were unfounded. The three of you have done terribly well. I daresay far better than I could have done."

The trio looked surprised then they grinned, looking pleased and a little shy.

Dumbledore eyed them with pleased amusement. "I shall let Aberforth know that you will need his instruction immediately. I would feel much better to have that Horcrux destroyed. May I ask what it was?"

Hermione launched into an enthusiastic description of the beautiful artefact as Ron and Harry exchanged grins and settled back into the couch. Dumbledore seemed highly interested in the artefact and asked many questions about it. Once they had exhausted that topic of conversation he asked about the actual retrieval. Hermione immediately sobered and glanced over at Harry. He gave her a wry smile and picked up the thread of the conversation, telling the Headmaster about their approach, finding the artefact then the difficulty of their escape, including what had happened to him within the portrait.

"Well done, Harry," Dumbledore said soberly once Harry had finished telling his tale.

Anything else the Headmaster intended to say was interrupted by the sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening. They all tensed as they waited then Hermione's gasp sounded throughout the room as Snape stumbled down the last of the stairs. Both Harry and Ron leapt to their feet and hurried forward to catch the Potions Master before he could fall and they half-carried him over to the couch. While they had been doing this Dumbledore gotten to his feet and retrieved a small chest from the desk that stood against the opposite wall. He crouched down beside Snape and flipped the lid of the chest open.

"Severus?" he said gently. "Which ones do you need?"

Snape swallowed hard then coughed. His face was even paler than usual and he looked drawn and pained. The way he was lying on the couch, seemingly trying not to curl up, only reinforced the impression of pain and Harry was fairly sure that some of the dark stains on Snape's clothes were blood.

Snape opened his mouth to answer the Headmaster's question but before he could, Hermione was at his side and had plucked two vials out of the chest. She gave the vials a narrow look before uncapping them and sniffing at them. She nodded to herself then held one out to Snape, returning the other to the chest. Snape eyed the vial then nodded and took it from her, swallowing it in one gulp. Hermione ran her fingers lightly over the remaining vials in the chest then pulled out three more. Each one she offered to Snape was accepted and by the time he had swallowed the contents of the last vial, he was looking more like he normally did.

"Thank you, Miss Granger," he said, his voice raspy but reasonably strong.

Hermione gave him a solemn nod in response and packed up the small chest. She returned it to the desk then joined her friends.

"What happened, Severus?" Dumbledore asked calmly as he returned to his seat.

Harry took up a position standing in front of the fireplace as Hermione and Ron stood at either end of the mantelpiece, partially flanking him.

"The Dark Lord was most displeased to lose Bellatrix," Severus replied, his voice rasping and hoarse. "She knows too much of his plans for him to be easy with her in the Ministry's hands, especially with Scrimgeour in charge. And what he would not attempt for Lucius and the others, he _will_ attempt for Bellatrix."

"He'll attack Azkaban," Dumbledore stated flatly and Severus nodded.

"Within the week," Snape confirmed. "He cannot afford to wait any longer. It will be done sooner rather than later. Perhaps even within days." He paused then continued grimly, "Draco will be given a leading role. The Dark Lord will not risk me while Nagini is still so ill but Draco must redeem himself in the Dark Lord's eyes and this task will make or break his service."

"How the hell do we warn them without giving everything away?" Ron asked, his voice laced with frustration.

"Scrimgeour said that if we needed the Ministry's help we only had to ask," Harry replied, thinking hard. He turned and fixed the Headmaster with a fierce look. "How much does the Ministry know about those…visions I used to have?"

"Only what has been written on the Daily Prophet," Dumbledore replied. "Cornelius did not wish to know more and there were very few outside the Order whom I trusted with that kind of information."

Harry nodded absently. "Then they probably know that the visions are of what Voldemort sees," he said, clearly thinking aloud. "So we say that the aftermath of today's events triggered another one of these visions. That I saw Voldemort raging about losing Bellatrix and that he's making plans to take Azkaban. We keep it to that. It'll look suspicious if we go into more detail."

"But Harry, you said it was _Voldemort_ who was blocking the visions," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Surely if he finds out that you've warned the Ministry, he'll know it didn't come from him. And that still puts Professor Snape in danger."

"Legilimancy," Snape said abruptly. "I have…over-represented what happened during the lessons you took with me. Both good and bad. The Dark Lord will believe that you are capable of Legilimancy. That is why he has blocked off the link. You had more information than he intended for you to know when you went to the Ministry. He believes you extracted that information from him rather than any sloppiness on his part."

"Really?" Harry said with surprise. "I…think that's good. So he _will_ believe that I used legilimancy to get the information about the prison break?"

Snape smirked and nodded. "Yes. And that will work in our favour. He'll spend more time trying to work out how you did it."

Harry nodded and stared at the floor for a long moment. He then looked up at Snape. "I need to learn Occlumency because somehow I don't think Voldemort going to leave that weapon alone when we finally come to it. Moody gave us some training, to the best of his ability, but I think I need more. Will you teach me?"

Snape stared at Harry with an unreadable gaze then finally nodded. "I will."

Harry relaxed as Dumbledore smiled at them both benignly. "Severus and I will sort things out then let Fawkes carry the message."

"Fawkes?" Harry said with a frown. "I thought Fawkes…disappeared after you er, died."

"He did not," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling. "And he has been watching over you."

Harry blinked then his eyes widened as did Ron and Hermione's.

"Casimir?" Harry gasped. "Fawkes is _Casimir_? But their feather patterns aren't the same."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Phoenixes are remarkable creatures, Harry. Capable of so many things and very loyal to those they choose as their friends."

Harry managed not to roll his eyes at the Headmaster's characteristic oblique manner of answering though from the amused gleam in Snape's eyes neither Ron and Hermione were as successful. Dumbledore's chuckle backed up that supposition.

Harry looked over at the Potions Master. "You nearly gave up the whole game today," he said warningly.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "How so?" he demanded.

"You were inaccurate in your spell casting," Harry replied bluntly. "Enough that Minerva found the reports odd. Thankfully Hermione thinks very fast on her feet."

"I suggested that the DA had everyone moving too fast for accuracy," Hermione added.

Snape grimaced. "I was aware that would be an issue but there was little I could do. I had no great wish to harm the students unnecessarily. I am damned enough."

"Well, be careful," Harry said. "Moody's already suspected something once. Ron and I managed to deflect him into thinking it was a prank we were planning but it was a close run thing."

"Alastor did not gain the reputation he has by being slow on the uptake," Dumbledore said calmly. "We shall both be careful."

Harry nodded and picked up his cloak. "We'd better get back. I think the teachers are going to be a little tense for a while and it wouldn't be a good idea for us to be missing right now."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, rising to escort them to the base of the stairs. "I shall speak to Aberforth regarding the training he promised you."

Harry nodded and the trio disappeared underneath the cloak. The sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening and closing signalled their departure.

The trip back up to the castle was completed without much fuss and despite a couple of close calls with patrolling teachers they made it back to the Gryffindor Tower easily. They crawled through the Entrance Hole and Harry draped the cloak over his arm. The two boys were about to say goodnight to Hermione when someone stood up from a deep armchair near the fireplace.

"Where have you three been?' Remus demanded, striding over to them with a stern look on his face.

He stopped in front of them and took a deep breath. He was about to start in on what was likely a lecture when he stuttered to a halt. He stared at them with a frown and took another deep breath, almost seeming to _scent_ them. His eyes widened in recognition and his jaw dropped. Harry muttered a low curse and grabbed Remus' arm.

"Don't say a word. Not here," he demanded.

With a jerk of his head to Ron and Hermione, he dragged the werewolf out of the common room and down to the Head Boy and Girl's common room. Hermione quickly established the normal spells they used to protect themselves, finishing with the Muffliato. Once that was done, Harry let go of Remus' arm.

"You caught me at the wrong time, Harry," Remus said flatly, anger sparking in his amber eyes. "So close to the full moon, my senses are particularly sensitive even in human form. _Why can I smell Snape and Dumbledore on the three of you_?"

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione but they only gave him rather helpless looks and shrugs.

"_Well_?" Remus demanded when the silence stretched too long.

Harry sighed again and slumped slightly. "Because Dumbledore's alive and Snape's not a Death Eater. I mean, he _is_ a Death Eater but he's not _really_ a Death Eater. He's working for us."

Remus' jaw sagged and he stared at Harry in disbelief. His gaze flicked over to Ron and Hermione and they both nodded solemnly.

"You're…He's…I think I need to sit down," Remus stammered weakly then he fumbled his way to one of the armchairs and all but fell down into it. He looked over at Harry with stunned hope. "Dumbledore's alive?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"How? _Why_?" Remus asked.

"It's…kind of a long story," Harry said as he sat down in the armchair opposite Remus. Ron and Hermione had taken seats on the couch.

"Give me the short version," Remus said flatly.

"Snape was under an Unbreakable Vow to aid Draco in his task and complete it if Draco failed," Harry replied.

"And Draco's task?" Remus asked.

"To kill Dumbledore," Harry said. "Snape told Dumbledore about the whole thing and they tried to find a way out of it. Eventually they found a way where Snape could apparently kill Dumbledore without _actually_ doing it and the whole thing came to a head on the night the Headmaster and I went to that cave."

"So how did they do it?" Remus asked, his natural curiosity overcoming some of his confusion and anger.

"A simulacrum," Harry replied.

"I thought the knowledge of how to create a simulacrum had been lost long ago," Remus objected.

Harry shrugged. "That's what Dumbledore said but he also said he found it in a book in the library at Grimmauld Place. Anyway it worked. Snape could kill Dumbledore without _actually_ killing him. That fulfilled the Vow and got him installed as Voldemort's right hand man."

Remus stared at Harry for a long moment then he shook his head. "Dear Merlin," he breathed. "How has Severus managed to handle all of this?"

Harry snorted. "He's fine. He's been slowly poisoning Nagini so Voldemort's hardly going to risk Snape on any dangerous missions."

"He's poisoning Nagini?" Remus said then his face cleared. "Oh, I remember, Nagini is one of the horcruxes."

Harry nodded. "And the one that would be the hardest for _us_ to get to. So Snape's taking care of her."

Remus nodded, still looking slightly stunned. "So where _is_ he? Dumbledore, I mean."

"In Hogsmeade," Harry replied. "He's hiding in a secret room in the Hog's Head. But Remus, you can't say anything. I probably shouldn't have told you all this but…well…"

"What about Minerva?" Remus objected. "Surely she should know?"

Harry shook his head. "She can't. What if she says the wrong thing at the wrong time? Okay, it's probably not that likely but it only needs to happen once. Then Voldemort finds out and Snape's dead."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have thought that would bother you."

Harry grimaced. "We've…kind of declared a truce," he admitted.

"And if you think that's weird to hear, you should try seeing it in action," Ron said with a grin.

That surprised a small chuckle out of Remus and he seemed to relax a bit. "I can imagine," he said dryly then he frowned. "Okay, I can sort of see your point about not telling people but what if Severus needs help and you're not available."

Harry sighed. "I don't know. I've just got to assume that Dumbledore and Snape have got contingency plans in place. I'll have to tell them you know so they may contact you. Usually we go to them but Snape has contacted me once when he needed help."

Remus nodded slowly. "So why were you down there tonight?"

"To find out how Voldemort reacted to today's events," Harry replied.

"And how did he react?" Remus asked.

"Badly," Ron replied sourly.

"He took some of his anger out on Professor Snape," Hermione added. "He really wasn't in very good shape when he got back to the Hog's Head."

"I'm not surprised," Remus said with disgust. "I heard a lot about how Voldemort treats his people when I was with the werewolves. So did anything else happen?"

Harry nodded. "He's going to make an attempt to get Bellatrix back. He's going to attack Azkaban."

"Merlin! You have to tell the Ministry!" Remus exclaimed.

"I know," Harry replied. "But we have to do it carefully. If we just go and tell them they going to demand to know why and we're not going to be able to tell them. And even if they do believe us it'll then be a dead give away that there's a spy in Voldemort's ranks. It'll put Snape at risk."

"So what…" Remus broke off then he nodded in sudden realisation. "Your visions. You're going to use your visions."

Harry nodded. "It seems like the best way to do it."

"And Professor Snape said that Voldemort won't get suspicious," Hermione added. "He'll think that Harry used legilimancy."

"Why would he think that?" Remus asked curiously. "Legilimancy is very difficult to learn."

Harry grinned wryly. "Snape's been misrepresenting me to Voldemort so yes, he'll believe I'm capable of doing that."

"Clever," Remus conceded.

Harry was frowning as he thought about something. "Remus? Did you ever get anything out of the werewolves?"

"I'm still waiting," Remus replied. "They were pretty horrified by what Greyback did but its also made them even more wary of opposing both Greyback and Voldemort. They were going to think about it and get back to me." He paused. "I'm reluctantly to push too hard but I might send a little reminder in the next few days."

"Good," Harry said firmly. "Greyback's got his pack out in the Forbidden Forest somewhere with orders to stay there so maybe that news will help change a few minds."

"Maybe you should tell them that Grawp's out there _with_ Greyback and his pack," Ron said. "With any luck Grawp'll take care of them."

"We should be so lucky," Hermione replied dryly.

"It's worth mentioning," Remus said with a smile.

Harry hesitated for a moment. "Are you…okay with all of this?"

Remus gave him a genuine smile. "Yes, Harry. I was just rather shocked at first. I always knew that Dumbledore would dare a great deal to get rid of Voldemort, I just never quite thought he'd go _this_ far." He paused and laughed. "People are going to kill him after all of this is over…or at least yell at him a lot."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, I know. I can imagine how I reacted."

"How did you find out?" Remus asked curiously.

"That night when we tried to ambush Snape and Draco? Well, after it was all over I remembered something odd I saw when we were near the Hog's Head," Harry explained. "I went back and saw Snape coming down the stairs as calm as you please. I had some really nasty suspicions about Aberforth at that point. Anyway I followed Snape and he went down into this hidden room in the basement of the pub and Dumbledore was there."

Remus was silent for a moment then smiled. "I'm a little surprised we didn't hear you yelling from here."

Harry laughed a little weakly. "I was too shocked. I was angry but just really more shocked and upset than anything else."

"I can imagine," Remus said kindly. "In many ways it was an incredibly cruel thing Albus did to you."

Harry shrugged. "Maybe but his reasons were good so I can accept it. I don't have to like it but I can accept it."

"Is Draco in on this?" Remus asked suddenly.

"No," Harry said with disgust. "He's still trying to be the good little Death Eater."

Ron snorted. "He always was an idiot."

Harry shrugged. "I guess Ron's right. He's supposed to be taking a leading role in the attack on Azkaban. His big chance to redeem his family name in Voldemort's eyes."

"And if he fails?" Remus asked soberly.

"We probably don't want to know," Hermione said soberly. "Unless he finally realises how stupid following Voldemort is then maybe he'll come over to our side."

"Yeah but even if he did, would you trust him?" Ron asked.

Hermione just shrugged, looking dubious.

"Draco made his choices," Remus said sadly. "People have been trying to turn him from that route since he came to Hogwarts."

"He made his choice, he has to accept the consequences," Harry said grimly.

On that rather sober note, Remus got to his feet. "You three better get some sleep. You've had a rather full day."

The trio nodded and snorted with amusement and Hermione quickly took down all of the spells. They walked out of the common room and down the corridor until they got to where they had to separate.

"I won't say a word about…" he paused and looked a little helpless.

"We've been calling them his greasiness and Professor Twinkle," Harry said with a grin. "Not exactly original but good enough for our purposes."

Remus chuckled. "Well, I won't say a word about…_them_ but I think you should consider telling Moody."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I know. It'd be useful having him in on it. I'll speak to them but I make no guarantees they'll agree."

Remus patted him on the shoulder and they headed off in their separate directions.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

The next morning Harry and his friends headed up to the Headmistress' office before breakfast and Harry told her about his so-called vision of Voldemort planning to attack Azkaban. The Headmistress looked briefly horrified that the visions had resumed then assured Harry she would see that the appropriate people in the Ministry would be informed and shooed the three students out.

"Who do think the _appropriate people_ are?" Ron asked idly as they walked down towards the Great Hall.

"Probably Shacklebolt and Tonks," Harry replied absently. "Listen, what did you two think about Remus' suggestion last night? The one about Moody."

"It…might be a good idea," Hermione said slowly. "We've nearly been caught out once by him. How many times can we put odd things down to trying to play pranks? Particularly if he picks up on how many times we're sneaking down to Hogsmeade. He can see through the invisibility cloak, remember?"

"I think you should talk to…to _them_ first," Ron said firmly. "You'll have to tell them Remus knows anyway."

"Mmm," Harry said indistinctly as they walked into the Great Hall.

They dropped the conversation since the Hall was filled with students eating their breakfasts and they joined Neville, Seamus and Dean. Halfway through breakfast a rather scruffy owl swooped through the Hall and landed in front of Harry. He quickly removed the note from its leg and glanced at the handwriting. When he saw it was from Aberforth, he tucked the note into his pocket and gave the owl some of his bacon rinds. The owl took them with obvious delight and flew off.

"Who's it from?" Ron asked in a whisper.

"Aberforth," Harry replied as Hermione leaned in to hear the answer. "It's probably got to do with those lessons he promised me. I'll read it later."

He got his chance to read the note in Potions. Slughorn had set them to brew Dreamless Sleep and while he was waiting for the first part to simmer, he pulled the note out and opened it up.

_Harry,_

_Heard you found the latest artefact. Why don't you come down to the Hog's Head on Tuesday night and we'll get to work._

_Abe_

Harry gave a sigh of relief and showed the note to Hermione. She echoed his sigh and handed the note back.

"Will you speak to _them_ as well?' she whispered, keeping a weather eye on Slughorn.

Harry nodded. "Might as well kill two birds with one stone. Besides I suspect I know where I'll be having my lessons since Aberforth specified that I should come down there and not stay here."

Hermione grinned. "I'm sure…_he'll_ be able to help."

They stopped talking when Professor Slughorn wandered along their row and stopped to peer into their cauldrons.

"Ah, excellent! Excellent!" he said beaming at the two of them. "Wonderful colour and consistency. Not that I wouldn't expect that from the two of you. Now, Harry, Hermione, I'm having a little gathering of friends on Friday and I'd like both of you to be there." They opened their mouths to answer but Slughorn didn't allow them to say anything. "Uh, uh, I won't take no for an answer. The Headmistress has told me that you're both terribly busy this year but I insist. A little social soiree would be just the break you need from your studies and whatnot. Friday, 6pm, I insist!"

Harry looked at Hermione rather helplessly then the two of them nodded reluctantly.

"Excellent!" Slughorn said as he beamed at them both then he sailed off to peer into Ernie MacMillan's cauldron.

"I wish I knew how to say no to things like that," Harry growled softly.

"So do I," Hermione said with exasperation.

"You've got the rest of the week to think up some way of getting us out of it," Harry said quietly.

"Me? Why me?" Hermione demanded.

"Because you're the smart one," Harry replied with a quick grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just for that I should make you think up your own excuse."

Harry snickered then they both settled down as Slughorn sailed past them again. As soon as the class was over they escaped from the room and hurried up the stairs to their next class.

The next evening Harry slipped under his invisibility cloak, grabbed the Map and headed down to Hogsmeade. He had one nasty moment walking through the castle when the Map showed that Moody was approaching him. He was able to avoid any awkward confrontation by ducking into a secret passageway. Once he got out of the castle he breathed a sigh of relief and walked down to the village. He ducked in via the back door and slid into the main bar. He crept behind the bar and tugged lightly on Aberforth's robes.

"It's me," he whispered.

"Downstairs," Aberforth whispered back and Harry ducked out of the bar.

He made his way to the stairwell and from there down to the room where the Headmaster was hidden.

"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore said cheerfully when he pulled the invisibility cloak off.

"Hello, sir," Harry replied as he folded the cloak and draped over the back of the couch.

"Potter."

Harry gave a start as the Potions Master came down the stairs then he gave the man a nod.

"Professor," he said neutrally then he grimaced. "I've got something you both need to know and I'm not sure if it's good or not."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said benignly, his eyes twinkling. "And what might that be?"

"Remus knows," Harry said bluntly. "He realised we'd snuck out a couple of nights ago and was waiting for us in the common room. He was able to…smell both of you on us. We had to tell him."

Dumbledore sighed. "How did he react?"

"He…wasn't very happy," Harry said slowly. "But he promised not to say anything to anyone."

"You should have just obliviated him," Snape said sourly.

"I don't know how to cast that one and I wouldn't start with Remus," Harry replied indignantly. "Besides, it does give you something of an alternative if something goes wrong and Ron, Hermione or I can't help." He paused for a moment. "Remus did suggest that we ought to tell Moody."

"I am reluctant to have too many people know," Dumbledore said. "It greatly increases the risk to Severus."

"I know but Moody's been suspicious of us once," Harry replied. "We managed to deflect him that time but eventually he's going to figure out that we're sneaking out of the castle a _lot_ more than we should be."

"That's why you have your cloak, Potter," Snape said sharply.

"Moody can see through it," Harry replied promptly. "Found that out in Fourth Year. I had to sneak through a secret passageway tonight to avoid him."

The sound of someone coming down the stairs had them all looking around then they relaxed when they realised it was Aberforth.

"Well, this looks terribly serious," Abe said amiably.

"Remus knows about Severus and I," Albus said calmly.

"Ah, I wondered when something like that was going to happen," Abe replied. "How did he find out?"

"He realised Ron, Hermione and I weren't in the castle and was waiting for us when we got back the other night," Harry said. "He could smell the Headmaster and Professor Snape on us."

"Interesting," Abe said thoughtfully. "I don't think we ever took that into consideration."

"And Harry has just suggested that we should tell Alastor," Albus added.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Abe replied bluntly. "I can't always be available to help if something goes wrong and neither can Harry and his friends. Having a couple of allies up at the castle would be a damn good idea. And having a few more Order members aware of what's really going on will help if Severus has to make a hasty retreat. He's likely to get hexed into oblivion at the moment. Moody would be able to keep the hotheads under control until you could make your reappearance, Albus."

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair thoughtfully. After several minutes he looked over at Snape.

"Severus, you are most at risk, what is your opinion?"

Snape scowled. "It would be useful," he conceded reluctantly. "It is unlikely I will escape unscathed after disposing of Nagini. Between Potter and Moody I should survive the Order."

"Very well," Dumbledore said as he looked over at Harry. "Tell Alastor but be discreet."

Harry nodded. "Of course."

"I have located the Hufflepuff artefact," Snape said before anyone else could say anything. "At least I believe I have."

"Where?" Dumbledore said intently.

"You mentioned it was a small cup," Snape replied.

Albus nodded. "Yes, gold with two finely wrought handles and a carving of a badger."

Snape nodded. "Yes, that is what it looks like," he said almost to himself. "It is in Riddle Manor."

Harry sighed. "Damn. That's…not going to be easy. Is there any way of getting it out of the Manor?"

"Not easily," Snape replied. "And not without the Dark Lord knowing."

"Leave it until last," Abe suggested. "Deal with the Horcrux then deal with Voldemort."

"Except last time I _dealt_ with a Horcrux, I ended up with burnt hands and absolutely exhausted," Harry objected. "I really don't want to have to face Voldemort at anything less than my best."

"You managed to escape from him during the Third Task when you were in not very good condition," Abe said.

"I had help," Harry said firmly, paling slightly as Albus shot a warning look at his brother. "And I was lucky. _Neither_ of us expected that Priori Incantatem thing to occur. Voldemort was as surprised as I was. And those…ghosts that came out of his wand helped me. They distracted Voldemort long enough for me to get to Cedric and get the Cup. I thought I was going to die. When I cast the spell that helped start the Priori, I expected to die. I just wanted to go out on my own terms."

Harry sat down and ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the floor. "I've been lucky _every_ time. I don't think it's ever been _my_ skill that's helped. It's always been luck or someone else. In First Year, I wouldn't have got through if not for Ron and Hermione and then I just got lucky. Second Year, it was Fawkes and the Sorting Hat. What did I know about fighting Basilisks? Third Year…well, Sirius wasn't really trying to kill me. He was trying to protect me so that doesn't count. Fourth Year, Moody…well, Crouch actually, helped me every step of the way even if I didn't know it at the time and I just told you about the cemetery. Fifth Year…" Harry swallowed hard. "Fifth Year was Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and particularly Neville. And you sir." He glanced over at Dumbledore. "I've never gone into anything with a proper plan. It's all just been luck or someone else."

There was a long silence after that outburst.

"I think you sell yourself terribly short, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly. "Yes, Ron and Hermione helped you reach the Philosopher's Stone but it was _you_ who was able to find it. Because you were the only person other than myself who stood in front of the Mirror of Erised and did not want the Stone for your own purposes. _You_ were the one who faced Voldemort then and held him off. And when you discovered the advantage you unwittingly held, you _used_ it. Sometimes winning a battle is not about casting spells or killing your enemy. Sometimes it is merely denying them what they want."

Harry frowned at that as Dumbledore continued.

"In the Chamber, you showed great courage and loyalty," he said with a growing smile. "It is true that your defeat of the Basilisk was due largely to luck. But it was not _luck_ that called Fawkes to you nor was it luck that enabled you to pull Gryffindor's sword from the Hat. It was your loyalty, your courage and your determination to succeed. You did not run from what was in the Chamber, you stayed and fought. You took gambles, you let your instincts guide you. Harry, there is an old saying that plans seldom survive the first encounter with the enemy. Do you understand what that means?"

Harry frowned as he thought about it. "I…Maybe. Is it…because you don't what your enemy is going to do, you can't plan for everything. So once the battle starts you just have to…play it by ear."

"Exactly," Dumbledore said with a proud smile. "Battles are rarely fought like chess games, Harry. You don't have hours to contemplate your next move. You must simply trust in your judgement to _know_ what to do next and trust in your training to give you that judgement. You did that in the Chamber, both when fighting the Basilisk and when you made the decision to use the fang on the diary."

"I…_guess_," Harry said dubiously.

Dumbledore sobered. "I made a terrible mistake in allowing you to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, Harry. One I regret to this day. I could easily have used the rules to declare your entry invalid but I allowed myself to be convinced by the false Moody that allowing you to compete might just lure whoever had placed your name in the Cup out of hiding. Moody also promised to watch over you and guide you where he could."

Harry snorted. "He certainly did _that_. I wouldn't have made if not for what he did."

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "What precisely _did_ he do? He told me he was doing nothing more than giving you the occasional piece of advice."

"Well, he did that," Harry replied. "But he did a lot of other stuff sort of behind the scenes. He told Hagrid about the dragons, knowing that Hagrid wouldn't be able to help himself. He'd want to show me since he wanted me to be safe…and to win."

"I noticed that none of you seemed overly surprised about the dragons," Dumbledore said with a smile.

Harry grinned. "Well, Hagrid showed me while he was on a…date with Madame Maxime. And Karkaroff was lurking around as well. So both Krum and Fleur knew because of that. And…well, _I_ told Cedric because I didn't think it was fair that he didn't know when the rest of us did. Moody overheard me telling Cedric and that when he helped me. He suggested I should play to my strengths." He gave a self-deprecating shrug. "And really at that time my only strength was Quidditch and maybe Defence."

Albus and Abe chuckled as Snape sneered.

"Cedric helped me with the Second Task," Harry continued, giving Snape an amused look. "Of course, Moody had helped _him_, knowing Cedric would feel he owed me and therefore tell me." Harry grinned. "He told me to…take my egg and…have a bath. Contemplate the problem there. He even told me to use the Prefect's bathroom on the Fifth Floor and gave me the password."

"Hah!" Snape exclaimed triumphantly. "I _knew_ you were there."

Harry rolled his eyes as Abe and Albus looked amused. "Yes, I was," he said dryly. "Anyway, Moaning Myrtle helped me with the egg as well. She seemed quite amused by the whole thing."

"I presume you _did_ steal the Gillyweed from my office then," Snape said archly.

"Actually no, I didn't," Harry replied. "I had no idea that Gillyweed even _existed_, let alone that it could help me. Apparently Moody hoped I would ask Neville for help since he had a book on water plants that would have told me about Gillyweed but when it became obvious I hadn't, he staged a conversation in front of Dobby, knowing that Dobby would do anything to help me. So it was _Dobby_ who stole the Gillyweed. I had no idea where he'd gotten it from. I was running late." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. "And he helped during the Third Task by making my path a lot easier and getting rid of Krum and Fleur. I guess he would have gotten rid of Cedric too if he'd been able to. So you see? It's all been sheer dumb luck as Minerva once put it."

"Again, I think you sell yourself rather short," Albus said firmly. "But I daresay this is neither the time nor the place to convince you of that. I do agree that facing Voldemort directly after destroying a Horcrux would not be a good idea."

Harry's gaze lingered for a moment on the Headmaster's burnt hand and he swallowed hard. "Sir? How…did that happen? If you don't mind me asking."

Albus sighed. "I overlooked a warding spell that had been placed on the ring and when I destroyed the Horcrux, the warding spell…exploded for lack of a better word. As I happened to be wearing the ring at the time, you can see the price I paid."

"But why were you wearing it?" Harry asked.

"It was necessary to activate the containment spells around the Horcrux," the Headmaster explained. "If there had been another way, I would have taken it."

Harry nodded. "So it wasn't the containment spells that did the damage. Good. That worried me a little after what happened when I destroyed the locket Horcrux."

"No, the damage was caused by the wildfire event," Abe said. "You made a very crude but serviceable attempt at earthing the magic and the overflow of magic burnt your hands."

Harry looked down at his hands and flexed them briefly. "So how do I avoid that happening again?"

"I will teach how to earth magic properly," Abe explained. "What did it feel like just before you realised that a wildfire event was occurring?"

"The magic was getting out of control," Harry said promptly. "The wards collapsed too fast and the shields and the wards on the room weren't able to handle the flow of magic even when I strengthened them."

"And what did you do then?"

"I…grabbed at the magic," Harry said a little sheepishly. "I'm not really sure why. I was just trying to…I don't know, _direct_ the magic somehow. Channel it somewhere safe."

"Instinctive earthing," Abe said with a shake of his head. "I've heard of it being done before but not with so little damage. You're a very lucky young man, Harry. Most people would have been badly hurt. The fact that you are personally quite powerful would have helped I suppose."

Harry gaped at the Headmaster's brother. "What?"

Abe blinked. "You are rather powerful, Harry. Surely you knew that? Easily as powerful as myself or Severus and quite likely as powerful as Albus. Even the most well-motivated student, if he lacks the power, would not be able to produce a corporeal Patronus at the age of thirteen. Many people cannot produce a Patronus even when they are adults."

"I…what…_really_?" Harry stammered, looking to the Headmaster for confirmation.

Albus nodded, his eyes twinkling with amusement, and Harry shook his head in amazement.

Snape snorted derisively. "Did you really think your teachers pushed you so much simply because they enjoyed making you miserable?"

Harry gathered himself a bit. "Er, well, I thought that's why _you_ did that but otherwise I didn't really think about it."

Snape scowled. "With your power you _should_ have been in the top five percent of your class."

Snape looked like he wanted to say something further but a warning glance from Dumbledore had him falling silent. Harry shook his head then looked back over at Aberforth.

"So…because I've done this once, I should be able to do it again?" Harry asked. "Except properly this time."

Aberforth chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you'll have no problems. I was surprised that Bill hadn't mentioned this in his notes but after I spoke to him I understood. He is quite a powerful young man himself and he'd never faced a situation where the warding spells were so powerful. He'd never needed to know how to earth magic."

"So what precisely does that mean?" Harry asked. "Earth magic."

"It means sending magic back into the earth," Aberforth said with a smile. "Where did you think magic came from?"

"Er, I don't know," Harry said. "I never really thought about it."

Abe chuckled. "Most people don't. They simply accept that the magic is there for us to use and that is enough for them. Magic permeates everything around us. Exceptionally strong witches and wizards can see it flowing through the world. Albus can, I can, Severus is slowly starting to see it, Minerva sees it as well. You'll be able to as well one day. But that's beside the point at the moment. What I am going to teach you to do is to create what is know as a shunt. It's basically a magical pipe that you create between yourself and the earth that you feed any excess magic through. The earth simply absorbs the magic. It's capable of accepting far more than any wards or shielding spells. Then you can practice feeding energy through the shunt. Ready?"

Harry drew in a deep breath. "As I'll ever be. What do I do?"

"We'll start with creating the shunt," Abe said. "The incantation is Maguscutula. You won't need your wand but you will need to concentrate on what you're doing. Concentrate on connecting yourself with the earth. If you've got it right you should be able to _feel_ the connection between yourself and the earth."

Harry nodded and his brow furrowed as he concentrated then he said, "Maguscutula." He paused for a moment then grimaced. "I don't think I did that right."

"That's alright," Abe said patiently. "Just keep trying. You'll know when you've got it right."

Harry nodded and took another deep breath, letting it out slowly as he concentrated. He repeated the incantation, trying not to get frustrated when it failed again and again. Finally he growled and stood up, pacing around the room.

"What am I doing wrong?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Abe replied with a chuckle. "Just keep trying. It'll come. You have the strength to do it."

Snape and Dumbledore had been watching silently up until this point.

"Perhaps try changing your perception of the connection," the Headmaster suggested.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out, forcing himself to relax. He returned to his seat and tried again. It was on his third attempt this time around that he gasped and jumped before once again consciously relaxing.

"I…think I did," he said tightly. "It feels very strange."

"Good," Aberforth said. He held his hands out in front of himself and conjured a large ball of pure energy between them. "Now, I want you to reach for the magic between my hands and feed it into the shunt. Do it slowly and carefully."

Harry nodded and frowned as he mentally reached out for the magic in much the same way as he had for the containment spells.

"Careful!" Abe snapped and Harry pulled back sharply. "A little more delicately there, Harry. You need a gentle touch."

Harry nodded and reached out again. This time Aberforth didn't stop, just watched intently as Harry carefully drew off some of the magic. Once he'd done that, Harry hesitated, unsure of how to do the next step. He saw Aberforth and the Headmaster were watching him intently but from their expression they clearly wanted to see what he would do. He frowned slightly then drew the magic closer to where he could feel the start of the shunt. As soon as he got near the shunt, the magic was pulled out of his hands. He gasped and caught at it but quickly let it slide through his 'hands' when he realised it was being sucked into the shunt.

Realisation dawned on him and Harry reached out again for the magic being held between Aberforth's hands. This time he didn't just pull a piece off, he drew out the magic like a string. He brought the end of his magical string over to the shunt then let the string run through his hands as it was sucked down into the shunt.

He soon found that he couldn't simply let things run passively. The 'string' didn't pull off the ball of magic cleanly. It came with lumps and thin bits and he saw that the smoother it was, the easier the process went. He also had to control the speed of the process since if he let it run too fast then the shunt showed signs of being blocked. Finally the last of the magical 'string' disappeared down the shunt and Harry relaxed, suddenly realising he was exhausted.

"Well done, Harry," Aberforth said with delight. "Now, close the shunt. Just use Finite."

Harry nodded. "Finite Incantatem."

He felt the shunt dissolve and then his exhaustion really hit him and he slumped down in his chair with a muttered, "Whoa."

He heard movement in the room then a goblet appeared in front of his face.

"Drink this, Mr Potter," came the voice of Snape.

Harry took the goblet in shaking hands and swallowed it quickly, grimacing at the taste. He felt some of his exhaustion flow out and he put the goblet down on the table.

"Thank you," he said to Snape, who was still standing in front of him.

The Potions Master inclined his head and returned to his seat.

"Well, I would say that was a very successful first effort," Aberforth said with enthusiasm. "The tiredness you're feeling now is perfectly normal, Harry. It takes a great deal of effort to direct and guide the magic but it is something that becomes easier with practice. And practice you shall! I want to see you down here every night after dinner. I'll speak to Minerva and make sure it's alright."

Harry nodded then something occurred to him and he looked over at the Headmaster. "You know Moody's going to want to confirm that I'm telling the truth?"

Albus nodded, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Yes, I have no doubts he will. Bring him down, Harry. Now I think you should head back and get some rest."

Harry nodded and pushed himself out of the chair. He threw his invisibility cloak over his head and disappeared up the stairs.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Harry wandered slowly back up to the castle feeling tired and worn but strangely triumphant. He _knew_ he could deal with the Horcruxes now and that was the most important thing he'd gotten out of the whole night. He slipped inside the Entrance Hall was about halfway across when someone emerged from the Great Hall.

"Potter!" Moody growled. "Where the hell have you been?"

Harry pulled the cloak off and thought hard as Moody clumped over to him. The ex-Auror looked around and his scowl deepened.

"Where are those friends of yours? Or that girlfriend?" he demanded suspiciously. "I would understand you skulking about if they were with you but not alone. What is going on?"

Harry sighed; he'd hoped to put this off for a few days but since the opportunity had arrived, it was probably a good idea to take it. "Can we go somewhere a little less…open?"

Moody's eyes narrowed then he turned abruptly and started up the stairs. "Come with me, Potter."

Harry followed the ex-Auror up the stairs until they got to the Defence classroom. They walked through to Moody's office and the grizzled man closed and locked the door before throwing up more wards and spells than Harry thought possible. Once he'd finished that he pushed Harry down into a chair and sat down opposite him.

"Now what's going on Potter?" he demanded.

"I was down in Hogsmeade," Harry began.

"Obviously," Moody growled. "Doing what?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Getting a lesson from Aberforth and speaking to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape."

Moody did not speak and even his false eye stopped spinning and came to focus on Harry. The silence was deafening and very intimidating.

"When the Order came and picked you up before your Fifth Year, what did I ask you for in the kitchen?" Moody demanded fiercely.

"A glass of water because you were having problems with your eye," Harry replied promptly, knowing what Moody was doing.

Moody was silent again as he continued to stare. "Albus is alive?" he finally asked.

Harry nodded.

"How?" Moody demanded and Harry once again launched into the story of the Vow, the Simulacrum and what Snape and Dumbledore had cooked up between them.

Once he'd finished, Moody was absolutely still then, much to Harry's surprise, he burst out into great growls of laughter. Harry watched him with surprise and some disbelief, wondering if the man had gone mad.

"Uh, Professor Moody?" he said carefully. "Mad-Eye?"

Moody got himself under control and grinned at Harry. "I'm alright, Potter. I just didn't think Albus had it in him. I take it they know you're telling me?"

Harry nodded. "Remus found out the other night and he thought we should tell you. I mentioned it to Professor Dumbledore and Snape tonight and they agreed."

"Snape agreed?" Moody said suspiciously.

Harry nodded again. "He's been working at slowly poisoning Nagini under Voldemort's nose and when he does actually let her die he's not exactly expecting to get out of there unscathed. The Headmaster, Aberforth or myself and my friends might not be able to help him if that happens and if he turns up here, he's likely to get hexed unless there's someone who knows exactly what's going on. That's Remus and now you."

Moody grunted as he thought about that. "Good point. So he really is working for our side. Nice to have some actual confirmation of that. S'pose that answers the question as to why he managed to miss every student he aimed at on the weekend."

"He's located the Hufflepuff Horcrux as well," Harry added. "It's at Riddle Manor."

"That's going to make things difficult," Moody said sourly. "Can he get it out?"

"Not without Voldemort knowing," Harry replied.

"Have to do it last then," Moody said thoughtfully. "Kill off Nagini, grab the cup, apparate here. You dismantle the Horcrux while we get ready to defend the school. Voldemort'll figure out what's going on, come here with his Death Eaters and we can see this done." His gaze focussed on Harry. "Those lessons you were doing? They were how to earth magic with Aberforth?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I managed to do it but Abe wants me down there every night to work on it until I'm good enough." He paused. "The timing of everything's going to be unpleasant. It takes a lot out of me to destroy a Horcrux. I need time to recover before I can go duelling Voldemort."

"Yeah, that's a problem," Moody growled. "Leave that with me for the moment, Potter. I'll talk to a few people, see what we can come up with. Now, I want to see them."

"I figured you'd want to do that," Harry said with a grin. "Come with me tomorrow night."

Moody nodded and took down the wards. "Good. Now get to bed. You've got classes in the morning."

Harry grinned again and hurried out of the office, heading for Gryffindor Tower.

The next evening Harry knocked on Moody's office door and was joined by the ex-Auror. They both had Invisibility cloaks and they donned them before heading out of the castle and down into Hogsmeade. Harry led his teacher to the back door of the Hog's Head and whispered for him to wait while he let Aberforth know he was here. Once that was done, he returned to the stairwell and whispered the instructions for how to get down to the Headmaster's room. Dumbledore was waiting for them at the base of the stairs, a smile on his face and his eyes twinkling.

"Ah, Alastor," he said with delight. "I see Harry has told you. Did you catch him coming in?"

Moody swept off his cloak, as did Harry.

"In a manner of speaking," Moody growled. "What the bloody hell were you thinking, Albus? Pulling off a stunt like this and not telling anyone other than Snape. Merlin only knows what could have happened."

"There was little option," Dumbledore said soothingly as he ushered Moody to a seat. "The Unbreakable Vow was set and had to be fulfilled and Severus' safety was my primary consideration. His position as Tom's most trusted Death Eater is distasteful for him but of the utmost value for us. Secrecy was vital. Harry stumbled upon us due to his curiosity and intelligence. Ron and Hermione because of their loyalty to Harry. Remus' discovery was mere chance. I think the circle of those who know is quite large enough."

"You don't plan on telling Minerva?" Moody said. "She's going to be upset about that."

"I can apologise to her later," Dumbledore replied with amusement. "But I must ensure there _is_ a later. No, no more people need to know."

"Where's Snape?" Moody said as he looked around.

"He was called by Tom about two hours ago," Dumbledore replied.

Just then Aberforth came down the stairs and eyed Moody with sly amusement.

"Alastor, I see you've joined our merry crew," he said amiably. "Harry, let's go over here and let Albus and Alastor catch up."

Harry nodded and the two of them walked over and sat down at the table at the side of the room. Moody watched them for a moment then Albus caught his attention with a question.

"Now let's try what we did last night again," Abe said.

"Okay," Harry said before concentrating and establishing the shunt again.

Aberforth created another ball of magical energy and Harry reached out for it and slowly fed it into the shunt. It was a much smoother process this evening and Harry finished much quicker than he thought he would.

"Excellent," Aberforth said when he was done. "How do you feel?"

Harry considered it for a moment. "Tired but nowhere near as bad as last night."

"Good," Abe replied. "You weren't using quite as much of your own personal energy tonight. That's good. Means you're getting comfortable with the idea of manipulating pure magical energy. A lot of people never get to that stage."

"I can kind of understand why," Harry said, clenching his hands into fists then relaxing them.

Abe gave him a kind look. "Now, let's try it again with more energy."

Harry nodded and watched as Abe conjured a larger and more intense ball of magical energy. This time when he reached out for it he hesitated momentarily at the sheer power involved.

"Should I have a shield of some sort up?" he asked nervously.

Abe frowned slightly. "Well, you can if you like. It's purely a personal preference. If you mess this up, a shield won't really help much but some people like to have them as a…security blanket, if you like."

Harry bit his lip then nodded once and mentally reached for the magic again. He found handling the increased magical energy to be somewhat similar to when he'd taken down the containment spells and he felt his nervousness grow as he teased out a 'string' of magic and started feeding it into the shunt. The magic flared and ebbed more than the previous ball and he found himself sweating as he worked to control the flow. When the last of the magic disappeared into the shunt he dismissed the shunt with a weary Finite and collapsed back in his chair.

He heard Abe get up and rummage around in the dresser next to the table then he was being offered a goblet. He gulped down the contents and handed the goblet back with a tired smile.

"Looks like I'm going to have to carry you back, Potter."

Harry looked over at Moody and saw the amusement on the former Auror's face.

"Hope not," he said wearily. "That'd be embarrassing."

Both Moody and Albus chuckled at that and Abe sat back down again.

"You've definitely got the hang of it," Abe said with approval. "We'll keep on practicing in this manner for the rest of the week and reassess things on Friday. If you keep going the way you have, I can't see any reason you couldn't dismantle the Ravenclaw Horcrux sometime next week."

"Okay," Harry said with a nod and a small frown. "That'll just leave Nagini and the Hufflepuff Horcrux, won't it?"

"Yes, indeed," Albus replied. "And I think those two will take some time before we can act. Severus does not wish to rush his poisoning of Nagini. He wishes to make it seems as natural as possible."

"Could he actually get away with it?" Moody asked.

"He hopes to but will not give any guarantees," Albus said. "He cannot give any guarantees that Tom will not work out what has happened. He says that in order to do this there will be some inevitable magical residues left on the snake."

"What if he can't _find_ Nagini after she dies?" Harry asked slowly.

The three adults looked at him curiously.

"What did you have in mind?" Aberforth asked.

"Do you remember the snake I brought back from the Gaunt's house? Asmodeus?"

The adults nodded.

"Well, he said that Nagini used to come and visit him," Harry explained. "He _might_ be willing to…to lure Nagini out when the time comes."

"If he would be willing that might be a good option," Albus replied with approval. "The longer it takes Tom to find Nagini the better chance Severus has of getting away unscathed. I shall speak to him about it."

"I speak to Asmodeus then," Harry said.

"Well then, I suggest that once the Ravenclaw Horcrux is destroyed you concentrate on your studies," Albus said. "Despite everything that must happen this year, they are still important."

"Is there any word on when Voldemort will attack Azkaban?" Harry asked hurriedly.

"No but Severus expected to find out tonight," Albus replied. "But we can expect it soon. Possibly even this week."

Harry nodded. "Are Greyback and his pack still out in the Forest?"

"Yes," Albus replied, the twinkle returning to his eyes. "Though Severus tells me they report problems with the centaurs and a rather recalcitrant giant."

A grin slowly grew on Harry's face. "So Grawp's still around, is he? I hope he's being careful. Hagrid wouldn't like it if he got hurt."

"Well, reading between the lines of what Greyback has reported to Severus, Grawp finds the _doggies_ as he apparently calls them to be part of a rather fun game," Albus replied with a chuckle. "Though I'm given to understand that Greyback and his pack do not find the game amusing at all."

That sparked laughter from the others in the room though Harry absently rubbed his shoulder as he laughed.

"No wonder we haven't had any problems," Harry said wryly.

"The centaurs may not be overly happy with us but they would despise what Greyback and his pack are even more," Albus said soberly. "They would not accept their presence."

"Good," Harry said firmly.

Moody got to his feet and picked up his invisibility cloak. "Come on, Potter. We'd better get back."

Harry also collected his cloak and the two of them left the pub and headed back to the school.

Harry's lessons with Aberforth continued to go well and by the time they ended the lesson on Friday, Aberforth felt that Harry would be fine to try dismantling the Horcrux. He said that there was little more that Harry could learn from their lessons. That any further learning would only come with actually using the shunt with active spells.

However any thoughts of when and how to do this were driven out of Harry's mind when he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny came down to breakfast on the Saturday. Everyone was talking about the same thing and Neville quickly showed them his copy of the Daily Prophet.

_You-Know-Who Attacks Azkaban_

_Six dead, twelve injured, two captured, two escaped_

_Last night He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named staged a daring and lethal attack on Azkaban, apparently to retrieve some of his Death Eaters. Readers may remember that a number of Death Eaters, including Lucius Malfoy, Rastaban Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov and Augustus Rookwood, were captured during the still largely unexplained events in the Department of Mysteries over a year ago; events that involved the Chosen One and Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, and five of his friends._

_Last night's attack was led by Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and during the attack six members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were killed. Twelve were injured, including Aurors Mark Tavistock, Adrian Pucey and Nymphadora Tonks. None of the injured were seriously hurt and all were taken to St Mungo's. The Prophet attempted to speak to the injured but were denied by the Ministry._

_The attack was at least partially successful. The death Eaters reclaimed two of their number but also lost two, captured by the Ministry forces. The captured Death Eaters were recent students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The Death Eaters who escaped were Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy._

"Tonks was hurt?" Harry said with concern and he quickly looked up to the Head Table.

Remus was missing but Minerva beckoned to him when she saw he was watching. Harry handed the paper to Ginny and he, Ron and Hermione hurried up to speak to the Headmistress.

"Remus asked me to tell you that Tonks is fine," she said as soon as they got there. "She caught a Furnunculus curse in the back but managed to capture Mr Goyle before that."

"Thank Merlin," Harry said with relief, a sentiment that was echoed by both Ron and Hermione. "How accurate is the Prophet's article?"

The Headmistress' lips thinned and her expression became grim. "Very, I'm afraid. Even though they had your warning, they were taken completely by surprise. That's why there were so many deaths and injuries."

"Pretty poor exchange," Ron grumbled. "Getting Crabbe and Goyle for Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. I think Voldemort won that one."

"Indeed," Minerva said primly. "Now, Mr Potter, I understand from Aberforth that you are ready to destroy the Horcrux I have in my safekeeping."

Harry nodded. "I…was thinking of maybe doing that some time today. So I have a day to recover."

"There is a room off my office that you may use," Minerva said. "It is well warded and will be safe enough if there are problems again."

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll come up after lunch."

"Very well. The password is Bonnie Doon."

The trio headed back down to the Gryffindor table and ate their breakfast, adding the occasional contribution to the fevered conversation. Once that was done they collected Ginny, Neville and Luna and spent the rest of the morning going over their plans for what the DA would learn. Given the conversations he'd had with Dumbledore, Moody and Snape over the past week, he suggested they concentrate methods of defending the castle and the grounds as well as ways of working together in what might end up being a pitched battle.

The went down to lunch still discussing a few things then after lunch, Harry headed up to the Headmistress' office while Ron and Hermione left with Neville, Luna and Ginny to help out at the DA meeting that was scheduled for that afternoon. The gargoyle leapt aside when Harry gave the password and he walked up the stairs, feeling his nerves start to grow. Minerva was waiting for him when he got to the top of the stairs and she led him to the room he was to use and handed him the velvet bag that held the Horcrux.

"Good luck, Mr Potter," she said with an encouraging pat on his shoulder then she left and closed the door behind her.

Harry felt the wards spring into existence with the closing of the door and he walked out to the middle of the room. He pulled the elaborate bronze and sapphire ink bottle and quill out of the bag and placed it gingerly on the floor. He shoved the bag into his pocket and pulled out his wand.

He pointed it at the delicate sculpture and said, "Pateocapere."

The keyword once again gave him access to the containment spells and he was relieved to see they were identical to the ones that had been on the locket. He established the shunt then, as he had with the locket, he reached out with his magic and let it touch the outer layer of the containment spells. He slowly worked his way through all the layers, finding it a fraction easier to do this time and feeling relieved as a result.

When he finally reached the innermost layer, he paused to rest and checked that the shunt was still active and that he could still reach it. Once he was sure of that, he let his magic touch the innermost containment layer and murmured, "Manifesto" while he concentrated on the underlying rune that anchored the warding. When the rune glowed and rose into the air, he checked it was the correct one then let it fade. He then touched his wand to the sculpture, concentrated on the rune and said, "Finite Incantatem."

The rune appeared again, floating above the sculpture. The rune began to shimmer and whine and Harry felt his magic drain. The whining intensified then the rune burst in a display of magical fireworks. The ward faded and a tension entered the room. Harry quickly cast the shielding spells around the Horcrux and himself and readied himself to start feeding the magical energy that was about to be produced into the shunt.

Without the innermost ward supporting it, the second ward began to collapse and Harry reached out carefully and started pulling the magic towards the shunt. The cascade effect of the collapsing wards quickly grew and Harry saw that a wildfire event was again growing. He started pulling as much of the magical energy into the shunt as he safely could and hoped that between that, the shields and the wards in the room it would be sufficient. For moment it appeared that even the action of the shunt wouldn't stop the wildfire event then the cascade even seemed to stabilise just on the edge. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and continued feeding as much of the magical energy into the shunt as fast as he could.

When the outermost ward finally collapsed and the last of the magic dissipated into the shunt, the shielding spells and the wards there was a strange silence and Harry stood there and breathed hard. He was dripping with sweat and felt like he'd just played a six hour Quidditch game. He looked down at the sculpture and saw it seemed to be shimmering slightly. He grimaced as he realised the shimmering felt…strange; Dark and evil. He swallowed hard and pointed his wand at the sculpture again.

"Deletrius," he said firmly, concentrating hard on destroying the soul fragment that was within.

The shimmering increased for a moment and Harry heard a low wailing sound flow through the room then, with a low sigh, the shimmering faded along with the eerie wailing. Harry slowly lowered himself to his knees and stared at the sculpture. It hadn't changed a bit and he rather warily cast the spell that would let him know if there were any traces of magic. The spell indicated there was but they faded even as he watched and he ended the spell with a huge sigh of relief.

He picked up the delicate sculpture and slowly pushed himself to his feet. He used Finite to dismiss the shunt then tucked his wand back into his pocket. He stumbled over to the door and felt the wards relax the moment he touched the handle. He staggered out into the Headmistress' office and collapsed onto the couch in front of the fireplace as Minerva hurried around her desk towards him.

"Are you alright, Mr Potter?" she said with concern. "Is it done?"

"I'm just tired," Harry replied wearily. "And it's done." He handed the sculpture to her. "Here. You should probably keep it. It used to belong to Rowena Ravenclaw so the school should have it."

The Headmistress placed the sculpture on her desk then took Harry's arm. "Come along, Mr Potter. I think you're going straight to the Hospital Wing."

For once Harry didn't feel like arguing; he just wanted to collapse where he was and sleep for days. Much to his relief, Minerva used the internal Floo network to take him to the Hospital Wing. He really hadn't wanted to parade through the halls of the school and have who knows what rumours start yet again.

Poppy Pomfrey came bustling out the moment she heard the Floo activate and she didn't seem too surprised to see Harry. She gave him a quick once over then relaxed.

"I take it everything went well this time?" she said as she ushered Harry over to a bed and handed him some pyjamas.

Harry waited until she had drawn the screens around the bed then quickly got changed.

"Yeah," he said as he gratefully climbed into the bed. "The shunt worked. The Horcrux has been destroyed. I'm just tired."

"I should think you would be," Poppy said firmly as she came around the screens with a goblet in her hand. "Dreamless Sleep, Mr Potter. I think you could do with it."

Harry took the goblet and drained it in one gulp. He handed it back to the nurse and wiggled down under the covers. He took off his glasses, placing them on the small table beside the bed and was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

When Harry woke again, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting next to his bed, talking quietly. He snuck a hand out from under the blankets and scrubbed his face before reaching for his glasses. His friends started at the movement and looked at him with relieved delight.

"Harry! How are you feeling?" Hermione asked as Ginny moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I'm fine," Harry said as he put his glasses on. "What time is it?"

"Just after nine in the morning," Ginny replied.

"You missed breakfast, mate," Ron added with a grin as the girls rolled their eyes.

"Did it all go well?" Hermione asked urgently.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It was just tiring."

There were sighs of relief from the others.

"So what now?" Ron asked.

"We wait," Harry said as he pushed himself into a sitting position and flicking a quick glance at Ginny. "There's not much more we _can_ do. We let the Order do its job and find out about the remaining Horcruxes."

Ron also glanced at his sister and he nodded as he remembered that Ginny did not know of the situation with Dumbledore and Snape. "Good point."

The sound of their talking had alerted Madam Pomfrey and she bustled out into the Hospital Wing.

"Good morning, Mr Potter," she said briskly. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Fine," Harry said firmly. "I was just tired."

Madam Pomfrey made an unconvinced harumphing sound and she pulled out her wand, waving it at Harry as she muttered a few words under her breath. Finally she nodded.

"Well, you seem to be just fine," she said. "So I suppose you can go. But I want you to come back immediately if you feel lightheaded or ill. I believe Mr Weasley brought you some clothes."

Harry pushed the blankets back with alacrity and the two girls headed around the other side of the screens. Ron pulled the clothes he'd brought from the bottom of the bedside table and Harry quickly got changed. The four students then head out of the Hospital Wing and towards the kitchens.

Dobby made a beeline for them when they arrived and soon they were sitting at one of the tables with generous plates of food. As Harry dug into his breakfast, something occurred to him.

"Ron? Did you write to Percy?" he asked after swallowing his mouthful of eggs.

Ron looked slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah, I did. I haven't had an answer though."

"I can't believe you wrote to that prat in the first place," Ginny said tartly.

"I _told_ you what the Minister said," Ron said impatiently.

"Give him time," Hermione said soothingly. "He was probably surprised to get the letter. He's probably still trying to write a response." She looked over at Ginny. "Give Percy a chance. Sometimes when people make bad decisions they don't quite know how to make up for them. Sometimes the _other_ party has to make the first move."

Ginny looked unconvinced though Ron gave his girlfriend a grateful look. The arrival of an owl derailed all conversation and they watched as the bird homed in on Ron.

"Bloody hell," he breathed as the owl got closer. "It's Hermes!"

"Our timing's good," Harry said to Hermione with a grin.

The owl landed in front of Ron and held out its leg. Ron quickly removed the letter and handed Hermes the rest of his toast. The owl accepted the offering with a short bow then took off and flew out of the kitchen. Ron looked down at the letter for a long moment then opened it and began to read. When he finished his face was blank and unreadable and he handed the letter to Harry.

_Dear Ron,_

_I was surprised but very pleased to receive your letter. Minister Scrimgeour informed me he had spoken to you and at first I was angry that he had interfered in such a way. But after I had thought about it and I received your letter, I have to admit I'm glad he did._

_I owe you and the rest of the family an enormous apology. And I owe Harry an even bigger one. I am sorry for the way I behaved but I just didn't want to believe that You-Know-Who was back. Minister Fudge seemed so sure but I have come to realise that he was deluding himself and I did the same. I don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry and I can only hope that you and the rest of the family will find it within yourselves to forgive me. I intend to speak to Dad at work this week to try and make amends and hopefully will go home to see Mum on the weekend._

_I have an even greater motivation for trying to make amends to you all as Penelope has accepted my proposal of marriage and she agreed that family is more important than anything else in the world. We haven't set a date for the wedding as yet. Penelope wants to wait until after we have spoken to Mum and Dad but next summer seems most likely. If Penny agrees then we will probably have it at the Burrow though I will defer to her for that decision._

_I would also like you to pass along my heartfelt apologies to Harry. I treated him shamefully and I deeply regret my actions and words. I think I always knew he was telling the truth but I just didn't want to believe him. I just didn't want to believe You-Know-Who was back. That he was still alive. I actually do remember the last war. I was only four when Harry defeated You-Know-Who but I do remember what it was like before then. Mostly I just remember Mum being so worried and scared and Dad being tired all the time. I remember what the house was like whenever Dad was even five minutes late coming home from work. How frightened Mum would get and how worried Bill and even Charlie would get. And our family is so prominent a supporter of the Light and Dumbledore. I didn't want things to be like that again. I realise now that sticking my head in the sand won't stop that from happening. Penny's reaction when I have been late home from work is proof positive of that._

_Please let Harry know that I am sorry for the way I treated him and that he has my full, if somewhat belated, support. And if ever he or you need my help, I will be there for you._

_Your brother,_

_Percy_

"I guess both the Minister and Hermione were right," Harry said quietly as he handed the letter back to Ron.

It was intercepted by Ginny and Hermione quickly rose to read the letter over her shoulder.

"Would it seem strange if I said I was really proud of Percy?" Ron asked, looking rather uncomfortable.

Harry smiled. "No, I don't think so. Hanging me around with me, especially last year and over the summer meant you grew up very quickly. We couldn't afford to be kids anymore. Now Percy's done the same thing."

"That bit about the last war," Ginny said softly.

"Yeah," Ron replied heavily. "That kind of got to me too. I forgot that he would old enough to know what was going on."

"Well, sort of," Hermione said. "He was four so he probably didn't _really_ know what was going on. From what he says in the letter, he kind of picked up on everyone's emotions which makes sense, I suppose."

"And they weren't very good emotions," Ginny finished with a sigh. "I guess he's not such a prat after all."

"I'm going to copy that letter and send it to Fred and George as well as Bill and Charlie," Ron said firmly. "You know how angry they all were when Percy was being an idiot. They may not accept him back unless they see he really did have some reasons behind what he was doing. They weren't _good_ reasons but they do kind of make sense."

"I'll help," Ginny said, leaping to her feet.

Ron joined her and the siblings rushed out of the kitchen.

"Shall we join them?" Harry said to Hermione.

"Why not?" she replied and they ambled after their friends.

The next few weeks passed with an almost eerie quietness. Voldemort made no moves at all and a sense of trepidation settled onto not only the school but also the wizarding community in general. Harry, Ron and Hermione threw themselves into their classes and their continued training with Moody. They also added Animagus classes with Professor McGonagall after she determined that all three had the ability to be able to make the change. They helped with the DA when they could and were impressed with the progress Neville, Luna and Ginny had made.

Snape had reported that while he still held his place at Voldemort's right hand, he had been kept out of the Dark Lord's current planning. Voldemort wanted Snape to concentrate on curing Nagini and that was apparently his only current task. He reported that Voldemort was closeted with Draco, Bellatrix and Lucius and that Draco was swanning around the manor as though he owned the place. He warned them to be wary; that what little he'd been able to glean pointed to something happening on or around Halloween. Harry wasn't surprised to hear this. It was an anniversary that Voldemort liked to commemorate.

The Headmistress had organised for the usual feast on Halloween and in spite of the tense atmosphere the students were looking forward to the feast with great anticipation. Harry, Ron and Hermione had an animagus lesson scheduled with the Headmistress in the spare period they had at the end of the day. They were deep in the middle of a discussion on the theory behind the transformation when someone started pounding on the door of the classroom they were using. Professor McGonagall looked surprised then walked over and opened the door to reveal a terrified Colin Creevey.

"Giant wolves!" he yelled as soon as the door opened. "They took her. Just charged out of the Forest and took her!"

Minerva grabbed Colin by the shoulders. "Calm down, Mr Creevey," she said severely. "Who took _whom_?"

Colin took a deep shuddering breath. "There were giant wolves. Lots of them. They just burst out of the Forest and ran straight at Ginny. We were in Care of Magical Creatures. They grabbed her and dragged her into the Forest. Hagrid told me to get you and he went into the Forest."

"Greyback!" Harry yelled, his anger bubbling to the surface.

Hermione grabbed at his arm. "Harry! Remember what Moody said!" she said urgently.

Harry grimaced and ducked his head then, with a strangled cry, he shoved his anger down. When he looked up again, his face was calm though his eyes sparked with anger and determination.

"I'm going down with Mr Creevey," Minerva said briskly. "Do what you must do, Mr Potter, and good luck."

"We'll need to speak to Hagrid," Harry said firmly. "We're going to get changed then we'll be down."

"Very well," the Headmistress said then she took Colin by the arm and hurried out of the room.

The trio took off for the Tower at a run.

"We'll speak to Hagrid then go down to Hogsmeade," he barked as they ran. "His greasiness is the only one who can give us any idea where they might take her."

"What if he's not there?" Ron yelled, his own anger plain in his face.

"Then we get him there," Harry growled.

"I'll send a message to the Headmaster when we get to the Tower," Hermione said.

"Good," Harry said shortly as they pounded up the corridor towards the Fat Lady. "Canary Creams!"

The Fat Lady swung open as quickly as she could, looking slightly alarmed at the expressions on their faces. They ran up to their respective dorms and got changed into their Trinity robes as quickly as they could. Ron and Harry got back down to the common room just before Hermione.

"I sent the message," she reported as she came down the stairs, pulling her hair into a messy bun.

"Good. Let's go," Harry snapped.

They crawled out of the entrance hole and ran down towards the entrance of the castle, their robes billowing out behind them. They burst out of the doors to see the Headmistress ushering the rest of Ginny's class towards the castle.

"Hagrid is waiting for you," she yelled to them as they ran past. "I'll alert the Order and the Ministry."

Hagrid was pacing outside his hut when they arrived and he started speaking the moment they got to him.

"They were on ta us before we knew what was 'appening," he said with obvious distress. "The big one grabbed Ginny's arm with 'is jaws and dragged 'er into the Forest. The others kept anyone from followin'. Some o' the kids tried spells but the wolves either dodged 'em or they didn't effect 'em. I tracked the wolves but they jus' seemed ter disappear after abou' twenty minutes of trackin'."

"They used a portkey the last time, at Bill and Fleur's wedding," Ron said tersely.

"Probably did this time," Harry replied. "Where were you when the tracks disappeared? Were you outside the wards?"

Hagrid frowned as he thought back to where he had been. "I'm not sure but it's possible. It's hard ta tell that far into the Forest and I was never the best o' wizards."

"Thanks, Hagrid," Harry said and the trio headed for the gates and Hogsmeade.

They ran down the path towards Hogsmeade then veered off before they reached the village proper and worked they way through the back streets. They crept into the back yard of the Hog's Head then, when they were sure they weren't being watched, they slid inside and down to the Headmaster's rooms. When they got down the stairs they found Dumbledore pacing in front of the fireplace.

"Severus was unable to come," he said when he saw them. "Voldemort is keeping him close. But he did say that there had been a lot of activity in the last few hours."

"At the manor?" Ron asked.

"No, he said that Voldemort shifted everyone this morning," Dumbledore replied. "To Malfoy Manor. Now what has happened?"

"Greyback and his pack grabbed Ginny," Harry said flatly.

Dumbledore closed his eyes momentarily. When he opened them Harry once again saw the reason why Voldemort was afraid of Albus Dumbledore. The glint in the Headmaster's eyes was dangerous and intimidating.

"I shall create a portkey that will take you directly to Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore said sharply. "Make sure you let Minerva know where you're going. She can let the Order know. Be careful when you enter. Voldemort no doubt intends to use Miss Weasley as a bargaining chip and thus may not expect you to attack him. You will have a very brief window before he recovers. Concentrate on getting to Miss Weasley. The portkey will be two way. It will return you to the school gates. The activation word for both ways will be Mischief Managed."

The trio gave the barest hint of a smile at the familiar words and watched as the Headmaster picked up a quill from the desk. He tapped it with his wand then handed it to Harry. Hermione pulled out her wand and concentrated. She then said "Expecto Patronum" and a silver otter scrambled out of her wand and disappeared through one of the walls.

"Take care and remember your training," Dumbledore said soberly. "The three of you together are formidable and powerful. Never forget that. Good luck."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said as Ron and Hermione each placed a finger on the quill. "Mischief managed."

The familiar portkey effect dragged them along and then they were staggering into each other just to the side of a set of elaborate gates. Harry tucked the quill into his robes and the trio crouched down beside the gates, peering in at the immense manor.

"No sign of anyone outside," Ron said, his eyes narrowed as he examined the grounds.

"They're probably not expecting anyone to attack them here and certainly not this quickly," Hermione replied. "Besides they wouldn't want anyone to get suspicious. If there were people patrolling the grounds it might be noticed."

"How are we going to find our way around in there?" Ron asked with frustration. "We could easily get lost."

"I've been thinking about that the whole time and I know the answer," Harry said with a ruthless grin. "Dobby!"

There was a small crack and the diminutive house elf appeared next to them.

"Harry Potter sir!" Dobby said, his eyes widening as he recognised where they were. "What is you doing _here_?"

"The Death Eaters have kidnapped Ginny Weasley," Harry said quietly. "They've brought her here. Dobby, do you think you could sneak inside and find out where she is? Without getting caught."

Dobby looked excited. "Yes, Harry Potter sir. Dobby could do this easily. No one notices house elves, sir. And the other house elves won't give Dobby away. Dobby knows the house _very_ well."

The little house elf disappeared with a crack and the trio waited for his return.

Ginny huddled in the corner of the room she'd been left in and clenched her hands into fists, digging her fingernails into her palms in an effort not to cry. When the wolves had come bounding out of the Forest she'd been quick to realise who they were. The descriptions the wedding guests had given of Greyback and his pack had been rather vivid after all. At first she'd thought it was another random attack like the one in Hogsmeade and she'd prepared herself to defend herself and the other students but then she realised that the largest of the wolves, who she assumed to be Greyback himself, was heading straight for her.

She rubbed her arm where Greyback had grabbed her with his jaws. He hadn't broken the skin, in fact he'd been oddly careful not to harm her too much, but he had left large bruises in the shape of teeth marks. He'd dragged her through the Forest until they'd reached a small clearing where Draco Malfoy had been waiting. He hadn't said a word to her, just gave her a narrow eyed look then tossed what looked like a cloak onto the ground. Greyback had dragged her onto the cloak and they had then been joined by the other wolves and Draco. She hadn't realised the cloak was a portkey until then and she'd stepped up her struggles to get away.

Draco had looked over at her again at that point. "Don't bother, Weasley," he'd said with his normal sneer. "Greyback will bite your arm off before he lets you go. You're too valuable to us. Malfoy Manor."

At Draco's final words the portkey activated. They had arrived in the main foyer of what Ginny assumed must be Malfoy Manor and it had taken all of her strength to remain standing. Waiting for them had been Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape and the Potions Master had weaved his way through the wolves and grabbed her free arm as Lucius congratulated his son. Greyback had then let go of her and Snape had dragged her out of the foyer and up the stairs to this room. He'd thrust her inside roughly and she'd fallen to the floor while he pulled out his wand.

"Your wand, Miss Weasley," he'd said harshly.

Ginny had scrambled to her feet and started to back away from her former teacher.

"Do not make me find it for myself," Snape said, his anger starting to show. "You would find that humiliating and unpleasant."

Ginny had blanched at that threat, believing it from this man, and slowly pulled her wand out of her robes. Snape had then stepped forward and snatched it out of her hands.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley," he said as he backed out of the room and started to close the door. He paused for a moment then gave her a look of what she could only describe as rough sympathy. "I suggest you leave your mindless displays of Gryffindor idiocy for other times, Miss Weasley. If you behave yourself you may just come out of this alive. You are a pureblood witch. The Dark Lord will not kill you unless you force him to. His only interest is in Potter."

With that Snape had closed the door and she'd heard the distinct sounds of spells being used on the door. She'd backed the rest of the way across the room until she reached the corner she was still in then she'd sunk down to the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs and tried to will herself not to cry.

She took a deep breath and unclenched her fists, rubbing them on her robes then pushing herself to her feet. She set her shoulder determinedly and looked around the room. She'd been left in a fairly lavishly decorated bedroom. There was a large extremely comfortable-looking four poster bed against one wall and a desk, chair and wardrobe against the opposite wall. A door near the cupboard lead to a well-appointed bathroom when she investigated it and the only other door was the one to the corridor and when she tested that she found it very firmly locked. The windows were also locked shut and when she tried to smash one with a vase that was on the desk she found they'd also been spelled unbreakable as had the vase.

She slumped down into the chair, burying her face into her hands and trying not to cry. Snape's comments had made her situation clear. She was going to be used as bait to lure Harry into a trap and there was nothing she could do about it. A sudden crack had her looking up and what she saw astonished her.

"Dobby!" she yelped.

"Miss Wheezy!" Dobby said happily, dancing a little jig where he was standing. "Dobby has found you. Harry Potter sir sent Dobby to find out where you is and Dobby has done that."

"Harry's _here_?" she said incredulously.

"Oh yes," Dobby replied eagerly. "Harry Potter sir is here with his Wheezy and Miss Hermy. Dobby was asked to find you because Dobby used to work here."

"Dobby, you have to tell him to leave!" Ginny insisted. "It's a trap! They kidnapped me to use me as bait in a trap. Harry's in danger!"

Dobby paused and gave Ginny a solemn look. "Dobby thinks Harry Potter sir already knows that, Miss Wheezy. They is dressed in work robes."

Dobby then bowed to Ginny and disappeared with a small cracking sound. Ginny stared at where the little house elf had been standing and hoped though for what she wasn't entirely sure.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

As Harry, Ron and Hermione waited for Dobby to return, the first of the Order members apparated in. Moody and Remus were the first to arrive, closely followed by Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt. They quickly ducked down and joined the three students.

"The rest of the Order is gathering at Hogwarts," Moody growled. "Don't know how many are going to be able to get here on such short notice but we'll have to take what we can get."

"We're the only ones the Ministry would send for now," Tonks said as soon as Moody stopped talking. "But they've got a team ready for when we've finished."

"Why wouldn't they send more?" Ron demanded. "They kidnapped my _sister_!"

"Because there's no definitive proof of who did it," Kingsley said in his calm, deep voice. "You say she's here but how do you know?"

Harry hesitated. "I can't tell you. But she _is_ here. I've sent Dobby in to find her."

"Can Dobby bring her out?" Remus asked.

"House elves can't do that in a house that's not their own," Tonks said flatly. "If Dobby still worked for the Malfoy's then maybe he could but not now."

"But he can find her," Harry said firmly.

The rest of what he was going to say was interrupted by the cracking sound of Dobby reappearing. The house elf's eyes widened at the sight of the new arrivals but he bounced on the spot excitedly nonetheless.

"Harry Potter sir, Dobby has found Miss Wheezy!"

"Is she alright?" Ron demanded urgently.

"She is unhurt," Dobby replied sobering suddenly. "But she is frightened. She said for Dobby to tell Harry Potter that this is a trap and she is to be used as bait."

"Yeah, we figured that," Harry said grimly. "Where exactly is she?"

"She is upstairs in one of the guest rooms," Dobby replied, starting to look excited again. He quickly, if rather idiosyncratically, described the layout of the house and where the room was in relation to everything else.

"Do you know where the Death Eaters are?" Harry asked.

"Dobby did not go and look for himself but the other house elves were very helpful," Dobby replied. "There is wolves in the foyer and the Death Eaters is in the parlour and the dining hall on the ground floor."

"And Voldemort?" Harry asked.

Dobby trembled and looked frightened. "_He_ is in the parlour with Dobby's former master, Master Draco, Mistress Bellatrix and Professor Snape."

"And everyone else is in the dining hall?" Moody asked.

"Yes, Professor Moody," Dobby replied.

"Okay, that makes things easy," Moody growled then he looked at Harry expectantly.

Harry took a deep breath then stared down at the diagram they'd drawn in the dirt. The sound of more people apparating in had him looking up and he saw that the rest of the Order members had arrived. Though as it turned out it was more of a family affair. Minerva McGonagall had brought with her Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Percy Weasley as well as Fleur and Penelope Clearwater. The Weasleys were all looking angry and determined as were the two women. They joined Harry and the others and Fred and George immediately started pulling things out of their pockets.

"We've brought a lot of our stuff along," Fred said grimly.

"Some jokes, some stuff for the Order and some…prototypes," George continued, a nasty glint in his eyes.

"Ginny's up in this room here," Harry said, pointing to the dirt diagram then looking everyone in the eye in turn. "And she's the _only_ objective here. We're not here to get into a fight with Voldemort, the Malfoys, Snape or anyone else. Ron, Hermione and I will go after her." He paused then looked over at Moody. "Professor Moody, is there anyway of determining whether or not we can use a portkey inside the manor?"

"Malfoy Manor does not have anti-Portkey wards," Arthur said promptly. "Those are strictly regulated by the Ministry and are only permitted on certain key Ministry buildings as well as Gringotts. We'd know immediately if they tried to put them up illegally."

"Good," Harry said firmly. "I…have a portkey. Don't ask me where I got it from. It'll take us straight back to the gates of Hogwarts. So _we'll_ go after Ginny and portkey straight out from that room. You lot need to make sure we can get there. Don't try for any heroics and don't bother trying to capture anyone unless they fall into your lap. Hermione will use Sonorus to let you know when we've got Ginny. As soon as you hear that, _get out_! Voldemort is in there and _none_ of us are ready for a confrontation with him. Now, Greyback and his pack are in the foyer and will be our immediate concern."

"Let Fred and I handle that," George said firmly. All traces of the twin's normal impishness were gone.

Fred held up a couple of small packets with an unpleasant grin. "Muggle sneezing powder. We've been experimenting with it lately."

"Accidentally got some on ourselves," George added.

"Spent hours sneezing and with tears in our eyes."

"Can't imagine a wolf would react any better."

"They'll react more," Remus said grimly.

Fred and George nodded. "That's what we thought," Fred said as he put the packets away and pulled a small canvas bag out of his robes.

"So this is our new and improved _wizarding_ sneezing powder," George said, copying his twin's action..

"It can be targeted on just one person or a whole group."

"Lasts for an hour."

"Better effects."

"More sneezing."

"More coughing."

"Good," Harry said firmly. "The bulk of the Death Eaters are here in the dining hall but Voldemort's in the parlour with the Malfoys, Bellatrix Lestrange and Snape. I don't know how likely they are to get involved in a fight so be careful."

"What does Harry Potter want Dobby to do?" Dobby said firmly, looking determined yet oddly comical in his mismatched clothes.

Harry was about to tell him to return to Hogwarts when he changed his mind. "Go back to Ginny and stay with her until we get there," he said. "Protect her as best as you can but don't let yourself get hurt or killed."

Dobby nodded and disappeared with a crack. Harry brushed out the dirt diagram then looked at the others.

"Is everyone clear on what they're to do?"

The others nodded and pulled out their wands.

"Let Arthur and I take down the wards around the Manor," Moody growled. "We probably know more about how they were put up than any of you."

Harry nodded and got ready to run. Ron and Hermione took their places to either side of him while the Weasleys and other Order members spread out behind them, Fred and George standing just beside Ron with their bags of magical sneezing powder in their hands. Moody and Arthur Weasley stepped forward and pointed their wands at the gates then nodded to each other.

"Finite incantatem," they bellowed in unison and the gates shuddered then with an almighty grinding noise they burst open and the air between them shimmered, flared then went clear.

"Go!" Moody yelled and the trio leapt forward, the Weasleys and the Order on their heels.

They pounded up to the elaborate front doors and the trio pointed their wands and yelled, "Alohamora" as they ran. The doors shuddered then, under the force of the three strong spells, burst open. Fred and George put on a burst of speed as they leapt up the stairs and they dug their hands into the bags they held and tossed their magical sneezing powder at the wolves who were leaping towards them. The powder swirled for a moment then at a flick on the twins' wands it zeroed in on the wolves' faces. The wolves' charge faltered as the powder hit their faces then Greyback was the first to react. He sneezed and shook his great shaggy head, looking confused then alarmed. A second sneeze shook his body followed by a third and his pack began to echo him, all interest in attacking suddenly lost as they were racked by sneezes.

Harry, Ron and Hermione ignored this and headed straight for the staircase Dobby had described. They could hear the others yelling spells to take care of the wolves and the sound of doors banging open below them. They did not look back and continued running down the corridor towards the room where Ginny was being held. When they got there, Harry glanced at his friends.

"No time for subtlety," he said and the three of them pointed their wands at the door.

"REDUCTO!" they yelled in unison and the door simply crumbled under the force of the combined spell.

They burst into the room to find the strangest standoff in progress. Dobby was standing in front of an angry Ginny, his hand out, palm facing an expressionless Snape who was standing on the opposite side of the room, his wand pointing at Dobby.

There was a moment of absolute silence then Harry barked, "Dobby! Go back to Hogwarts!"

Dobby looked momentarily outraged and shocked then, with what could only be called an offended crack, he disappeared.

"Harry!" Ginny said, alarmed then her jaw dropped when Snape lowered his wand.

"You arrived sooner than I expected, Mr Potter," he said archly. "Though I _did_ expect the utterly ridiculous frontal assault. I gather the Order is making that racket downstairs."

"Harry?" Ginny said almost fearfully as she stared between Harry and Snape.

Ron and Hermione rushed over and grabbed her when it looked like she might collapse and Harry joined them, cupping her face in his hands.

"I'll explain later," he said gently, giving her a quick kiss. "But the most important thing right now is that you can't tell anyone about this. We'll make something up. It shouldn't be too difficult."

Ginny stared at him then at Ron and Hermione. When they both nodded reassuringly she looked over Harry's shoulder at Snape.

"He's on our side?" she whispered. "But what about Professor Dumbledore?"

"I'll tell you later," Harry repeated firmly. "But right now, we have to get out of here."

Harry turned and pointed his wand at Snape. "I'm sorry, Severus, but I'm sure you understand."

Snape smirked. "Of course, Mr Potter. I wish to keep my head exactly where it is. Miss Weasley, your wand."

He pulled Ginny's wand out of his robes and tossed it in her direction. It hit the floor and rolled to a stop near her feet. Ron quickly bent down and picked it up when it became plain that Ginny was still too shocked to do anything.

Harry gave the Potions Master a nod then said calmly, "Stupefy."

The spell thumped into Snape and threw him back against the wall, where he slumped to the ground unconscious.

Harry turned and pulled the quill Dumbledore had given him out of his robes, wincing at the sudden explosion that came from downstairs.

"Let's hope that came from Gred and Forge," he muttered before looked at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione nodded and pulled away from Ginny, pointing her wand at her throat and saying, "Sonorous."

"We've got her! Go!" Her magically amplified voice rang out through the house then she said, "Quietus."

Harry held the quill out and Ron and Hermione immediately place a finger on it. Ginny did the same after a moment's hesitation and a last glance at Snape. Harry was just about to speak the triggering words when pain suddenly ripped through his scar. He screamed and grabbed at his forehead, the quill dropping from his hand. He followed it, collapsing to the floor before his friends could catch him. Through the pain he dimly heard them speak.

"Get the quill," Ron said harshly. "Put his hand on it."

Harry felt someone grab his hand and place it on the quill then Ron barked, "Mischief managed!"

The familiar portkey effect took hold and they were dragged along in its wake, Harry still wracked with pain. They were slammed into the ground when it came to halt and Harry heard Ron speak again.

"Help me drag him inside the gates," he ordered and Harry felt himself being dragged along the ground.

The next thing he heard was the sound of running footsteps and alarmed voices then he felt something press against his lips. It took a moment to realise he was being kissed and he dimly remembered what Ginny had done in a similar situation on his birthday. He smiled and returned the kiss as best as he could, letting the feelings of contentment, happiness and love it engendered flow through him. He heard a dim snarl come from somewhere in his mind then the pain abruptly disappeared. He snaked a hand up into Ginny's hair and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

"Come on, Potter. You can snog your girlfriend later."

Moody's amused growl had them breaking apart and looking rather flustered and embarrassed. Ginny was kneeling next to him, blushing bright red and looking both stunned and relieved. Ron and Hermione were kneeling on the other side of him, grinning broadly. The Weasleys were standing around them doing the same while the Order members were looking amused. Harry slowly pushed himself into a sitting position with the help of his friends and he looked around the group.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked urgently.

Minerva nodded; she looked calm though her hair was mussed, wisps drifting out of the normal neat bun it was kept in.

"It appears the Death Eaters were not expecting us and were rather disorganised as a result," she said with grim satisfaction. "And Voldemort and the others did not emerge from the parlour."

"I heard the sounds of people apparating out towards the end," Remus said. "It was probably them. Are _you_ alright?"

Harry nodded and rubbed at his scar. "Voldemort was angry and he wanted to make sure I knew." He looked over at his girlfriend. "Thanks, Ginny," he said softly.

She smiled back but he could see the thousand questions she had lurking in her eyes.

"I take it you didn't have any problems?" Moody growled.

"Snape was there but we caught him by surprise," Hermione said, lying smoothly. "Harry stunned him but we left him there."

"Why?" Moody growled and there was a gleam in his good eye that the trio found inwardly amusing. "We could have had him."

"Harry's scar started hurting," Ron replied harshly. "That made it more important to get out of there than to try and drag Snape's carcass over to where we were."

Moody grumbled at that but subsided.

"What was Snape doing there?" Arthur asked suspiciously.

"Uh, he'd…been told to bring me down to…to Voldemort," Ginny said, shuddering at the memory. "Then Dobby suddenly appeared and they got into that standoff you walked in on. Dobby looked ready to attack him but Snape held off."

"That's odd," Minerva said with a frown.

Harry snorted. "Not really. Dobby's actually pretty powerful. He sent Lucius Malfoy flying when I was in Second Year. I'd want to be careful if I was him."

"Hmm, good point," Moody said. "A free house elf has full control of its magic. It's different from ours but it can be formidable."

"I think we should get you and Miss Weasley up to the Hospital Wing, Mr Potter," Minerva said firmly.

Harry groaned as Ron pulled him to his feet and Hermione did the same for Ginny. "I'm really fine, Professor."

"So am I," Ginny added quickly.

"Greyback didn't hurt you?" Arthur asked, finally sweeping his daughter into his arms.

Ginny hugged her father back fiercely. "My arm's just a little bruised," she said, her voice a little muffled by her father's robes. "I've had worse playing Quidditch."

The moment her father let her go, her brothers and sister-in-law swamped her followed by Percy and Penelope.

"Percy!" she said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Percy hugged her tightly again until Penelope laid a hand on his arm. He let her go but left his hands on her shoulders.

"Penny and I were at the Burrow with Mum and Bill and Fleur when the message came from Professor McGonagall," he said as though that answered everything and in light of the letters that had been doing the rounds lately, Ginny supposed that it did.

She stepped away from her brother and straight into Harry's arms. He hugged her tightly and buried his face in her hair, whispering, "I'm sorry, Ginny."

"What?" she yelped, pulling away far enough to look him in the face. "Harry! This was _not_ your fault."

"Gin-Gin's right," Fred said with a flash of a grin at his suddenly annoyed sister.

"As usual," George continued, mollifying Ginny slightly.

"And this is exactly how Voldemort wants you to react."

"Didn't think you usually did what he wanted."

That brought Harry to a halt and he gave the twins a sharp glance. He, like many others, often forgot how smart those two were. They hid it well underneath the jokes and pranks but you couldn't create what they did and not be intelligent.

He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them and looked down at Ginny.

"They've got a good point," she said before breaking into an impish smile.

Harry was silent for a moment longer then he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess they do."

"Course we do," George said exuberantly.

"Don't we always," Fred added.

"I think we should take this back up to the school," Minerva said, glancing briefly down through the gates.

There were nods all round and the group slowly made their way back to the castle and then to the Headmistress' office. Once there Minerva ordered tea for everyone and they sat down in various chairs, many drawing up their own. Harry sat down on the couch with his arms around Ginny. She didn't seem too upset with this and snuggled in comfortably.

"Are you going to tell us where you got the portkey, Harry?" Charlie asked, perching on the arm of the couch next to his sister.

"No," Harry replied firmly.

"You're starting to get as mysterious as Dumbledore," Bill said with a grin. "Just not quite as vague in the way you talk."

"Yeah, that 'no' was very blunt," Charlie said with a grin that matched his brother's.

"Mysterious must be a requirement for the leader of the Order," Remus added with a small smile, the look in his eyes telling Harry that he knew exactly where they had gotten the portkey.

"What happened downstairs?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

"Once the wolves were neutralised it was pretty anticlimactic," Moody growled. "Don't think Voldemort was expecting us to figure out where he was. He obviously wasn't ready for a fight."

"Yeah, the Death Eaters in the dining hall just came piling out without much in the way of thought. They didn't even have masks on," Bill said dryly. "But absolutely _no one_ emerged from the parlour."

"That's a bit…odd," Ron said with a frown. "If nothing else Bellatrix usually likes to have a go at Harry."

"They kidnapped Ginny for a reason," Arthur said as he looked over at Ginny, almost seeming to confirm that she was still there. "They obviously wanted to use her to lure Harry into some kind of trap."

"Like with the vision of Sirius at the Ministry," Hermione said with an apologetic look at Harry.

"Indeed," Arthur said uncomfortably. "Obviously we weren't meant to figure out where they were holding her nor were we meant to come and stage a rescue attempt so quickly." Arthur paused and gave Harry a curious look. "How _did_ you work out where she was?"

Harry froze for a moment. "Uh, it…seemed sort of logical. I didn't think they'd be at the Riddle Manor. Voldemort knows that _we_ know about his links to that place. It would be the first place we'd look. Both Draco and Lucius Malfoy are Death Eaters and are one of the few Death Eaters with a place secure enough." He paused. "And there was a way of checking Malfoy Manor. That's why I picked it as the best option."

"Using that house elf was a good plan," Moody said with an approving nod. "Never thought of asking a house elf to scout things out before. Still I suppose most house elves aren't free and able to do whatever they like."

"So what now?" Bill asked. "Is he going to make another attempt at kidnapping Ginny?"

"We will not allow him that possibility," Minerva said firmly. "I shall attempt to speak to the centaurs. Perhaps they will be willing to consider aiding us. I shall also speak to Hagrid about his brother. He told me earlier this year that…Grawp likes the Forest."

"If Hagrid could get Grawp to stay near the castle during Care of Magical Creatures classes that would probably deter Greyback's pack," Hermione suggested.

"I shall suggest it to him," Minerva said. She then fixed Harry and Ginny with a stern look. "Now, Mr Potter, Miss Weasley, I want you two to go straight to the Hospital Wing and let Madam Pomfrey have a look at you. No complaints! Go."

"I think it's a good idea," Arthur said firmly. "For _both_ of you."

Bill looked around his brothers. "No disagreements here. In fact, I think Percy and Penny can make sure you get there without any problems. Give you an opportunity to catch up with them."

A small smile crept onto Percy's face as he stood and walked over to the couch. Penelope laughed and joined them.

"I think you should just give in with good grace," she said in a conspiratorial manner. "After all, we'd _hate_ to have to stun you and drag you down there."

Harry and Ginny exchanged long-suffering look then slowly got to their feet and left, flanked on either side by Percy and Penelope and with the laughter of the others trailing behind them.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"I can't believe you're making us go to the Hospital Wing," Ginny grumbled. "It's Halloween. The feast is on tonight."

"Ginny, we need to make sure you and Harry are well," Percy said firmly.

"Besides we'll make sure you get to the feast," Penelope added with a smile.

"It won't take long," Harry said. "We're obviously not hurt and I think Madam Pomfrey is getting sick of seeing me down there."

Ginny giggled. "Well, you have spent more time in the Hospital Wing than the rest of Gryffindor combined."

"Have you really?" Penelope asked, caught halfway between amusement and concern.

"Um, quite likely," Harry replied ruefully. "I don't _really_ go looking for trouble. It just somehow always seems to find _me_."

"You _don't_ go looking for trouble?" Percy said a hint of amusement.

"Well, I _mostly_ don't go looking for trouble," Harry amended with an unrepentant grin.

"Of course not," Percy said dryly. "That's why I caught you and Ron and Hermione coming out of a _girls'_ bathroom." He paused and frowned. "What exactly _were_ you three doing in there?"

Harry snickered as they waited for one of the moving staircases to stop. "Um, that's a really long story. Ask me sometime when you've got a couple of hours free."

Percy shook his head. "I'm not sure I really want to know now." He worried at his lip for a moment. "Harry, I _am_ sorry about the way I treated you."

"I know," Harry replied patiently. He'd had more than one penitent letter from Percy in the last couple of weeks. "Percy, it's okay. I understand. I didn't really like it at the time and I thought you were being a complete prat but it's okay. You at least had some valid reasons for doing what you did. It's not like _I_ can remember the last war even if I did in some ways bring it to a halt."

"I remember that night, you know," Percy said suddenly. "Everything had been so tense and horrible in the weeks leading up to it then Dad suddenly came into my room that Halloween night and woke me up. Everyone was awake in fact. Mum and Dad got all of us downstairs and they were so happy and kind of sad at the same time. They said that everything as going to be alright; that You-Know-Who had been destroyed. They said that you did it and that you were a hero."

"I was a baby," Harry said with exasperation. "It was my _Mum_ who did it."

"Well, no one knew that at the time," Percy replied. "I just remember that everything got better after that."

"I remember the same thing," Penelope added.

They arrived at the doors of the Hospital Wing and Harry and Ginny reluctantly entered. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and gave them a look of resignation.

"Mr Potter, what have you done now?" she asked with exasperation. "And Miss Weasley, are you alright?"

"I just have some bruises on my arm where Greyback grabbed me," Ginny said quickly.

"And I'm fine," Harry said right after her. "Voldemort decided to show me how angry he was but Ginny took care of that."

Madam Pomfrey gave him a sharp glance. "Let me be the judge of _that_, Mr Potter. Mr Weasley, Miss Clearwater, what are you two doing here?"

"Making sure that Harry and Ginny didn't do a runner halfway down here," Penelope said with a smile. "They'd rather go to the feast."

"Well, if you two behave yourselves then that might just be possible," Madam Pomfrey said, her amusement clear. "Now, roll up your sleeve and let have a look at that arm of yours, Miss Weasley."

Ginny quickly obeyed and after a couple of minutes of prodding and poking, the school nurse declared her perfectly fine. She was given strict instructions to come back if anything changed for the worse then Madam Pomfrey turned her attention to Harry. She flicked her wand at him and then took a close look at his scar.

"Well, Mr Potter," she said after a few minutes. "It seems you've been lucky this time. Off you go, both of you. And _try_ to stay out of here from now on."

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and they quickly hustled out with Percy and Penelope behind them.

"You should head off to the feast," Percy said. "We ought to get back to Mum. She'll be worried."

"You _will_ come the wedding?" Penelope asked quickly before they could disappear. "We're trying to decide between next Christmas or the summer after that."

"Of course," Ginny said with a grin.

"Absolutely," Harry replied. "And with any luck this'll all be over by then."

"Do you think so?" Percy asked, looking both hopeful and worried.

Harry was silent for a moment. "Yes," he said firmly. "I'm hoping to finish it before the summer."

Silence reigned as they walked into the Entrance Hall.

"Good luck, Harry," Percy said soberly though he looked slightly frightened. "And I meant what I said in my first letter. If you need my help, I'll do whatever I can."

"That goes for me as well," Penelope added, looking determined.

"I think in the end it's going to come down to just me and Voldemort," Harry said grimly. "But your help may end up being needed either here or with the Order."

"We'll be there," Percy said, taking Penelope's hand in his own.

"Thank you," Harry replied.

Ginny quickly hugged her brother and Penelope while Harry shook Percy's hand. Penelope gave him a hug as well, much to his surprise, then the young couple left. Harry and Ginny watched them go then headed into the Great Hall where the feast had just gotten underway. There was a sudden increase in the volume as they made their way over to the Gryffindor table but they determinedly ignored it and sat down opposite Ron and Hermione. They were right at the end of the table and once Harry and Ginny had assured their house mates they were alright, Hermione quickly put up a silencing charm and the Muffliato. Ginny waited until that was done then she gave Harry a sharp look.

"What's going on with Snape?" she demanded.

"They didn't want anyone else to know but I think this will have to be an exception," Harry said to no one in particular then he took a deep breath. "Dumbledore isn't dead. Snape didn't kill him and he's on our side."

Ginny gaped at him then looked over at Ron and Hermione for confirmation. When they both nodded solemnly, she looked back at Harry.

"Explain," she demanded.

Harry once again launched into the story of the night in question and what had happened subsequently as they ate. When he finished he caught her hand and gave it a little shake.

"Do you see why you absolutely _cannot_ tell anyone about this?" he demanded. "Remus and Moody know but no one else. Snape could get killed if you talk about it."

Ginny nodded. "I understand. But _why_? Why do that?"

"Because it gets Snape in a position to find the Horcruxes," Hermione said quietly. "He's already in the process of slowly killing Nagini and he can get hold of the Hufflepuff Horcrux as well. Those are the last two."

Ginny frowned as she thought about that. "I guess that makes what Snape said to me make some sense."

"Why? What did he say?" Harry asked.

"When he took me up to that room, he took my wand from me and told me to behave myself," Ginny explained. "He said that if I did that I might get out alive and that Voldemort didn't want to kill me because I was a pure blood witch. He seemed…sympathetic when he said that."

"Do you think he knew what was going to happen?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Maybe but who cares," Harry replied.

"What?" Ron yelped. "What do you mean who cares?"

Harry gave him an exasperated look. "What, you didn't think that something like this _wasn't_ going to happen? Moody and I talked about it ages ago after Ginny first made it clear she wasn't going to let me push her away. You're _all_ targets for kidnapping along with anyone else who's been my friend."

"_That's_ why you were able to get yourself under control again so quickly!" Hermione said eagerly.

"What you said then…remember what Moody said…was more accurate than what you thought," Harry replied with a grin. "When we discussed this possibility he told me that the single most important thing I could do was remain calm. That if I didn't then whoever had been kidnapped would be dead."

Ron looked startled then slightly impressed. "Harsh but I guess that's Moody for you."

"Harsh but accurate," Harry corrected.

"So where _is_ the Headmaster?" Ginny asked curiously, pulling the conversation back to its original track.

"In hiding," Harry replied. "And I'm not going to tell you anymore than that. I shouldn't even have told you about him at all but I guess we had no choice."

Ginny didn't look happy about that but she eventually nodded reluctantly.

"I also want you, Neville and Luna to step up the training for the DA," Harry said. "Depending on what Voldemort does in response to what happened today, we'll help out as much as we can."

"You think it's going to come down to something big in the end?" Ginny said soberly.

"I think it's going to come down to me and Voldemort in the end," Harry said bluntly. "But I think the Death Eaters are going to cause all sorts of trouble while that's happening and I want everyone to be ready."

"Oh, okay," Ginny said as she quickly finished the last of her dinner.

She then got up and hurried over to where Neville was sitting and spoke to him quietly. He looked startled and glanced over at Harry. He nodded back once and Ginny spoke to Neville once again. She then hurried over to the Ravenclaw table and spoke to Luna. The blond girl gave her an interested look then stood and joined Ginny and Neville at the Gryffindor table where the three leaders of the DA began talking quietly.

"Are we going down to Hogsmeade tonight?" Ron asked quietly after making sure the spells were still in effect around them

Harry nodded. "Not tonight. I doubt Snape will be there and even if he is, he probably won't be in any fit state to talk to us since I expect Voldemort will be a bit angry. We'll go down tomorrow night."

Ron and Hermione nodded then Hermione took down the spell surrounding them and they joined in the conversations going on at the table.

The next evening they crept out of the school under Harry's invisibility cloak. For once they did not have to extraordinarily careful as both Remus and Moody were on patrol duty that night. Moody was in the Great Hall as he left and he gave them a subtle nod as they left. When they got to the Hog's Head they quickly ducked down the stairs to the Headmaster's rooms and Harry pulled the cloak off. When they came into the room they found Snape and the Headmaster waiting for them. Snape looked drawn and tired and was sitting slightly hunched in one of the armchairs. Harry gave him a jaundiced look as the trio sat down on the couch.

"I gather Voldemort wasn't too happy with what happened," he said dryly.

"Very good, Potter. Are you expecting points?" Snape snarled.

Ron bridled at that but said nothing when Hermione placed a hand on his arm. Harry ignored his friends and grimaced.

"I won't ask if you're alright since that's obviously a stupid question," Harry said. "So I think I'll just move on. What's Voldemort planning now?"

Snape gave him a look that none of them could decipher. "Nothing for the moment. Greyback and his pack will return to the Forest but they have instructions to do nothing for now, just watch and wait. The Dark Lord has dismissed all of the Death Eaters except for those who have nowhere else to go." He paused. "Wormtail has been given instructions that I was not able to discover. He has since left the Manor."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Ron said grimly. "Whatever the little rat's up to, it can't be good."

"The Headmistress and Mrs Norris spend time every night patrolling the castle in case he gets in," Hermione said with a small smile.

"Surely he wouldn't be able to though?" Ron objected. "I thought the wards were strengthened so that someone with the Dark Mark couldn't get in?"

"Do you really want to trust in that?" Harry asked cynically. "Voldemort himself came sailing into the school stuck on the back of Quirrell's head after all. If there's a way of getting past the wards, I'm sure that little rat will find it."

"Do the wards cover the secret passage from Honeydukes? Or the one from the Shrieking Shack?" Hermione asked with a thoughtful frown. "He knows about both of them."

"Yes, the wards would extend to both of those passageways," Dumbledore said calmly. "But I believe your estimation of Mr Pettigrew may be correct. Especially if he is working under a threat from Voldemort."

"Could he come through with someone else?" Harry asked. "Like Voldemort did with Quirrell?"

"You mean sneak into someone's pocket and come through the wards with them?" Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded. "Hmm, an interesting idea. My initial thought would be to say no but I cannot say what other spells Voldemort may have discovered in his research. He may have found a way. I have a great deal of free time on my hands right now so I shall bend my mind as to how that might be done."

"I'll let the Headmistress know," Harry said resignedly. "She and Mrs Norris can step up their patrols."

"Maybe you'll be able to join them soon," Hermione said with a smile.

"What is this?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

"Minerva's teaching us how to become animagi," Harry said with a wide grin. "We making progress…slow but it's still progress. She thinks we might be able to manage the transformation after the New Year. My form's looking distinctly feline."

"What I don't understand is how we've come so far so quickly," Ron said. "I mean your Dad and Sirius took a couple of _years_ to figure it out."

"But they were doing it on their own," Hermione pointed out. "We've got someone teaching us properly."

"Miss Granger is correct," the Headmaster said. "The process does not take quite as long with a skilled teacher." He looked at Hermione and Ron. "And what are your forms?"

"Mine's some kind of bird," Hermione said, looking a bit bemused. "Which is odd because I don't really like flying."

"Ah, you'll find that with your own wings flying becomes a different matter," Dumbledore said, his eyes gleaming. "And you, Mr Weasley?"

"I think I'm a dog," Ron said with a grin. "A canine, anyway."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said. "And congratulations."

The trio grinned with delight then Harry sobered and looked back over at Snape.

"So other than sending Wormtail out to do something, does Voldemort have anything else planned?" he asked.

"No," Snape replied. "I believe he intends to lie low for a while and plan for something…large towards the end of school year."

Harry sighed. "What a surprise."

"Well, there's nothing quite like tradition," Ron said with a wry grin.

"Do you think he could wait until _after_ we do our NEWTs?" Hermione asked plaintively.

Harry and Ron snickered as Dumbledore chuckled and Snape sneered.

"Hermione, we've been personally trained by Mad-Eye Moody," Harry said patiently. "Do you really think we'd have trouble doing _anything_ we wanted to do, no matter what our NEWT marks are?"

"Really?" Hermione said with surprise.

"A personal recommendation from a well-respected, if slightly paranoid, former Auror like Moody counts for more than school marks," Ron said with a nod. "Moody told me that and Tonks confirmed it. That's how she got in even though she messed up in some of the entry exams by tripping over. She had a personal recommendation from an Auror."

"The Aurors trust the word of their own more than that of even impartial examiners," Dumbledore said. "It sometimes frustrates the Ministry but those who come in on personal recommendations usually do extremely well."

Hermione looked thoughtful then she scowled. "Well, _I'd_ still like to do well on my NEWTs."

"Hermione, you're the smartest witch in the whole _school_," Ron said affectionately. "You're going to be _fine_."

"I only got an Exceeds Expectations in Defence for my OWLs," Hermione said with a frown. "I want to do better than that."

"Hey, how _did_ that happen?" Ron asked curiously. "I mean Harry was always going to get the best mark because he managed to produce his Patronus but what happened?"

Hermione looked frustrated. "I think it was the Boggart we had to face in the practical section. I still couldn't get past that."

Harry and Ron quickly swallowed grins but Hermione saw them and smacked them both on the arm firmly.

"It's _not_ funny," she said fiercely.

"Hermione, your Boggart is Professor McGonagall telling you you've failed everything," Harry said patiently, his grin growing. "That's not only funny, it's highly unlikely. Besides it's _way_ better than mine or Mrs Weasley's."

Hermione paled a little. "Well, yes, I suppose so," she said uncomfortably.

"Ask Remus if he can find a Boggart and practice," Harry said wryly.

"But how do I make _that_ funny?" Hermione said plaintively.

Ron snickered. "Have Minerva trip over her robes. Or have her hair come out of its bun."

Hermione quickly swallowed a smile and gave Ron something that was clearly meant to be a stern look. He grinned back at her unrepentantly.

"Argh, we're just rambling now," Harry said. "We know that nothing's going to happen in the immediate future so that gives us some breathing space. I think we'll get out of your hair, sir."

"Nonsense, my boy," Dumbledore said airily. "I do enjoy your visits."

Harry stood anyway and Ron and Hermione joined him.

"Oh!" he said, suddenly remembering. "Ginny knows you're alive. She doesn't know where you are but I had to explain to her about what happened in the room with Snape."

"Yes, Severus mentioned that that was a likely outcome of that confrontation," Dumbledore replied. "I would have preferred the secret to stay in the circle it was already in but this could not be helped. I'm sure we can rely on the discretion of Miss Weasley."

"Absolutely," Ron said staunchly then the three of them ducked under Harry's cloak and headed back up the stairs for the castle.

"Was it just me or was Snape really quiet?" Ron said as they walked through the gates.

"I think Professor Snape was in a lot of pain and didn't want us to know," Hermione replied dryly.

"I think Snape was in a lot of pain and didn't want us acting like typical Gryffindors and being concerned," Harry said with an amused snort.

Ron laughed. "Ah, that sounds more like it."

"Exactly," Harry said. "I mean _I_ thumped him against the wall with the Stupefy I cast and Merlin only knows what Voldemort did. He had to have been hurting. Stupid git just didn't want us to know."

"He's always been stubborn," Hermione said in an offhand manner. "And if he wants to sit and suffer instead of being sensible and asking for help then that's his own lookout."

"That's remarkably tough for you," Harry said with a grin.

Hermione sniffed primly. "Imagine what Madam Pomfrey would have said."

The boys laughed at that then they all quietened down as they slipped back into the castle and up to the Tower.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

The next couple of months passed with an almost eerie peace. Christmas came accompanied by a flurry of snow and ice. Most of the Seventh Years chose to remain at Hogwarts for the holidays, partly at the urgings of their parents who wished them to remain safe and partly because they had started to realise that their time at school would soon be over and they wanted to spend as much time together before life and careers started separating them.

Harry took advantage of this; pushing the DA into almost daily training sessions. He was pleased to see how well Neville did as the leader of the DA with Ginny and Luna as his deputies. With his new wand he found magic much easier and without Snape making his life miserable he found school to be much more fun. But he'd really flourished as the leader of the DA and Harry felt reassured that the students were safe in Neville's hands. He couldn't quite put his finger on why he thought it was important that the students be ready for anything, he just knew was. He also made time to sneak down to Hogsmeade whenever Snape was free to teach him Occlumency.

Christmas Day itself was spent opening presents with his friends and then in a monster snowball fight that escalated after a stray snowball from a Second Year collected Ron in the back of the head. He immediately and rather comically demanded instant revenge and it had led to a snowball fight split on Year levels rather than Houses – the Sixth and Seventh Years against everyone else. When the teachers finally descended on them to call things to a halt for dinner no one could decide who had won and truthfully no one really cared; they'd had too much fun.

The first day of the New Year heralded Harry, Ron and Hermione's first successful transformations into their animagus forms. Harry managed it first and his first reaction when he transformed was one of shock. He froze in place and the fur on the ruff of his neck and along his spine stood on end and his tail fluffed out impressively.

"Well done, Harry," Minerva said with delight and some amusement. "A panther. Very impressive, though you'd look much _more_ impressive if you let your fur settle."

Harry took a couple of deep breaths as he calmed himself and his fur down. Finally the novelty of the transformation got to him and he marvelled at how much information you got. He felt not like Harry as such but more like a panther with Harry's personality. He seemed to instinctively know the hows and whys of _being_ a panther.

Ron snickered as he looked Harry over. "You're not going to be able to fool anyone, Harry. Your eyes are still the same colour and you've still got your scar." He walked over and poked Harry in the head. "Here. It's a white lightning bolt in your fur."

Harry bared his teeth and growled as menacingly as he could manage in his slightly distracted state of mind and the others laughed.

"Now, now, Ron," Minerva said archly. "I think you should concentrate on your own transformation."

Ron laughed again and returned to where he'd been sitting. He closed his eyes and went back to concentrating on the spell then with a yelp, he too transformed. Harry looked over and mentally snickered when he saw the dog sitting where Ron had been. Its fur was the same shade as Ron's hair.

"Very good, Ronald," Minerva said, clapping her hands. "I believe you are an Irish Setter though I've never seen one with _quite_ that shade of fur."

Ron the dog barked and stood, staggering momentarily then shaking himself vigorously. His success seemed to galvanise Hermione and a moment later, she'd succeeded as well. A low, slightly startled hoot drew their attention and they saw the brown owl that stood where Hermione had been.

"Excellent, Hermione," Minerva said with delight. "Now, can the three of you transform back?"

The three animals concentrated then one by one transformed back into their human forms.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron burst out excitedly the moment he was human again.

"I'll say," Harry said, his eyes dancing.

"Definitely," Hermione added in a heartfelt tone.

Minerva laughed, surprising them as they'd never seen her like that before. "Don't look at me like that," she chided them with amusement. "I am perfectly capable of laughing and enjoying myself. Besides you very much reminded me of me the first time I managed the transformation. Now, I recommend you spend some time in your animal forms. I suggest you head outside first though."

"Thank you, Minerva," Harry said with a brilliant smile. "Thank you for teaching us this."

"Yeah, thanks," Ron added. "I've wanted to learn ever since we first met Sirius."

"Thank you," Hermione said. "You've been so patient."

"You've been excellent students," she said then she raised an arch eyebrow. "I expect to see the same fervour in your classes as well."

The trio grinned then left the room, heading for the Entrance Hall. Once they got outside the paused on the steps and after a minute or two of concentration, transformed into their animagus forms. Ron leapt off the stairs and floundered through the snow with a particularly doggy expression of amusement on his face. Hermione leapt into the air a little awkwardly and began to slow manoeuvre her way through the air. Harry eyed the snow rather fastidiously then leapt down into it, enjoying the flexibility and strength he had in his new form.

They played outside for nearly an hour with Harry and Ron exploring the strengths and limitations of their new forms and occasionally wrestling with each other. Harry quickly learned to be careful as he outweighed Ron and was considerably stronger than him. He also had very sharp claws and had no intention of hurting his friend. Hermione spent the time testing her wings and exploring the knowledge of flying she gained with the new form. She found that she could fly almost completely silently though any stiff breeze that blew up caused havoc with her soft feathers. She also found herself able to see things on the ground incredibly well and when a small mouse bounded across the snow she had to restrain herself from stooping on the poor creature.

Finally they returned to the steps and transformed back. They trooped inside and headed up to the common room Harry and Hermione shared. Once there they collapsed into chairs and Dobby brought them hot chocolate.

"That was great," Ron said contentedly.

"Yeah," Harry agreed absently.

"My…_instincts_ nearly got the better of me," Hermione said ruefully. "I nearly swooped down on a mouse."

"You sure it was a mouse?" Ron asked, looking a fraction more alert.

"Definitely," Hermione said firmly. "I have _very_ good eyesight as an owl."

"I had to fight the panther's instincts a couple of times," Harry said, staring into the fire with a satisfied expression.

"What should we call ourselves?" Ron said after a moment of silence. "I mean, your Dad was Prongs, Sirius was Padfoot and Remus is Moony. We should have names too?"

"We'll have to register as well," Hermione added.

"Minerva's got the forms," Harry said then he grinned. "Yeah, we need names, don't we?"

The trio were silent as the thought about names for themselves and the others.

"Sennett," Hermione said with a firm nod. "I had an Aunt whose surname was Sennett. She told me once it meant wise one."

"Good choice," Harry said with a smile. "You're our wise one and the owl is the symbol for wisdom."

"Yeah, that's a good one," Ron added putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders and kissing her cheek.

Hermione blushed then leapt off the couch. She hurried over to one of the book shelves and pulled a large book out. She dumped it on the nearest desk and flipped through the pages. When she found the one she was looking for she turned and grinned at Ron.

"What about Rufus for you?" she said. "It's Latin and means red-haired one."

Harry laughed. "That'd be perfect."

Ron thought about it for a moment. "Rufus?" he said dubiously.

"It'll be our little in-joke," Hermione insisted. "Kind of like Prongs was except in reverse. Prongs referred to his antlers and no one knew why. Anyone, like us, who knows what Rufus means will be able to guess who you are but everyone else will just think it's a name."

A smile slowly grew on Ron's face. "Hey, I kind of like that idea. Okay, Rufus it is. Now, what about Harry?"

Harry smiled. "I've already decided. I've been looking up names ever since we started this. Barak."

"Barak?" Hermione said curiously. "Why that one and what does it mean?"

"It's kind of like Rufus," Harry explained. "I actually got it from Anthony Goldstein. It's a Hebrew word that means lightning."

Hermione and Ron laughed.

"Good one," Ron said. "Barak. Another in-joke that _we'll_ know."

"Sennett, Rufus, Barak," Hermione said with satisfaction. "A bit more serious than the Marauders but I suppose _we're_ a bit more serious than the Marauders ever were at school."

"Yeah, none of the Marauders had a psychotic madman after them," Ron said dryly.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said with amused exasperation.

"Uh, uh, that's _Rufus_ to you," Ron said, shaking his finger at Harry and grinning.

"Bugger off, Rufus," Harry said with a laugh.

"That's better, Barak," Ron said with smug satisfaction.

"Are you two ever going to grow up?" Hermione said a look of amused disapproval.

"Nope," Harry said cheerily.

"Never!" Ron added loudly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm friends with children."

"You better believe it, Sennett," Harry said as Ron tossed a pillow in Hermione's direction.

She quickly dodged and threw the pillow back and the three friends dissolved into laughter.

When classes started up again their fellow students were often confused to hear the new names but most of them just dismissed it as yet another 'Trio thing'. A few asked questions and were fobbed off with mysterious remarks and grins. Minerva and Remus guessed almost immediately and asked them what the names meant. When they were told, they both laughed and said they were definitely appropriate.

"I'm staying with you at the next full moon," Harry said bluntly when they were talking to Remus.

"Harry, that's not necessary," Remus demurred. "Hermione makes the Wolfsbane. I'm perfectly safe."

"Did Sirius stay with you as Padfoot on the nights of the full moon when you were taking Wolfsbane?" Harry asked rather pointedly.

"Well, yes," Remus admitted.

"Then I am too," Harry said firmly.

"I've…gone back to using the Shrieking Shack," Remus said hesitantly. "For safety's sake. Just in case the Wolfsbane stops working. I know it's not meant to but…I think I prefer to be safe rather than sorry. Bill joins me there."

"I'm still staying with you…and Bill," Harry replied. "I doubt a calm Moony or a twitchy Bill are going to be much of a threat to Barak."

"I'm coming too," Ron said firmly. "Bill's there and he's my brother. If Rufus can help in any way then I'm going to be there."

"Then I suppose I'd better come as well," Hermione said. "_Someone's_ got to keep you lot out of trouble."

Remus looked at the three students. "I'm…not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?" he said ruefully.

"No," Harry said. "Would you have been able to talk my father or Sirius out of something like this? No? Well, why expect me to start?"

Remus laughed a little helplessly and gave in with good grace while saying firmly that_ he_ was not going to be the one to tell Mrs Weasley that her youngest son was spending the full moon night with a werewolf. That had made Ron blanch for a moment then he remembered her reaction when he stood up for himself about the Order and joining Harry and he calmed down…at least a little.

As January and then February passed things began to pick up a bit more. School was the most immediate problem. Their classes began to get more and more difficult and the homework piled up as they readied themselves for their NEWTs. Outside of the school sightings of various Death Eaters began to be reported with increasing frequency thought they were not attacking anybody. It almost seemed like they were just letting themselves be seen. Snape could tell them little about what was going on; he had been ordered to concentrate his attentions on an increasingly fading Nagini.

In light of this Harry spent some time talking with the ancient Asmodeus and got the agreement of the little snake. Asmodeus would lure Nagini out of the Riddle Manor when Snape was ready and then the Potions Master would steal the Hufflepuff artefact. He would make his way either to the Headmaster's rooms or if necessary to Hogwarts itself. Once that was done, the end game would begin since Voldemort would likely notice the disappearance of the artefact very quickly.

Harry had found it harder and harder to get to sleep as the days passed. Mostly he was keyed up because things were largely out of his hands now. He had to rely on the Potions Master and he'd spent so many years hating and distrusting the man that it was hard to trust him now. As his insomnia persisted he found himself prowling the halls as Barak more and more often. He preferred to do this rather than toss and turn or do anything to wake up his dorm mates. As he prowled he was often joined by Mrs Norris, Crookshanks and, even once or twice, Professor McGonagall.

Tonight he'd gone to bed early but woken just after midnight. He quickly realised he wasn't going to get to sleep again quickly and he slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs. Once he'd climbed out through the entrance hole, he changed into Barak and padded down the corridor. He was joined after about fifteen minutes by Mrs Norris and the two cats, one large, one small, prowled around. They'd just walked past the entrance to the Ravenclaw dorms when Harry caught an oddly familiar scent. He paused and went back to where he'd first detected the scent, ignoring the questioning meow from Mrs Norris.

His tail lashed from side to side as he sniffed at the scent. It was indeed familiar but he couldn't think who or what it was. Mrs Norris meowed a question again and Harry yowled back softly. Mrs Norris came forward and sniffed at the scent Harry had found. As Harry watched, Mrs Norris blinked then she hissed and her fur fluffed up in alarm. He yowled an urgent question at her. He'd discovered during his first outing with Mrs Norris that he could understand the cat after a fashion. It wasn't like talking to another person but he could definitely understand what she was saying even if there weren't _words_ as such.

Mrs Norris response came between hisses and small growls and once he'd deciphered it, Harry growled as well and his claws screeched on the stone floor. A small movement caught his attention and he saw Mrs Norris backing away from him warily. He calmed himself enough to reassure her then sent her off to find Professor McGonagall. Once she was gone, he picked up the scent again and began to follow it. He tracked it down the corridors and finally ended up at the door that led to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He stared at the door for a long moment then returned along the scent trail to where he'd started. When he got there he found the grey tabby that was Professor McGonagall sitting and waiting, just the end of her tail twitching slightly. When she saw him coming she transformed back and he did the same.

"It's Pettigrew, Mr Potter," she said without preamble. "I would recognise that scent anywhere."

"_That's_ why it seemed familiar," Harry exclaimed.

Minerva nodded grimly. "Yes, the feline part of your brain recognised the scent that you had picked up when human. Your human brain is not sophisticated enough to recognise by scent but your feline brain can."

"And because I'd never scented him as a panther that's why I recognised but couldn't place the scent?" Harry asked.

"Indeed," Minerva replied with smiling approval then she sobered. "Where did the scent trail end up?"

"At Moaning Myrtle's bathroom door," Harry replied. "Which undoubtedly explains how Wormtail evaded the wards. I expect the Chamber somehow isn't part of them."

"Then there is an entryway of some sort down there," Minerva said, her lips thinning with worry.

Harry paused and thought. "I suppose there must be. The Basilisk must have had _some_ way of getting out to feed. It could hardly have spent all that time down there and not been eating."

"Mr Potter, I would like you and your friends to venture down there as soon as possible and discover where that entry is. Once you find it, close it," Minerva said.

"Of course," Harry said with a nod. "But I want to see where Wormtail's been going first."

"With any luck, he may still be in here somewhere," Minerva said just before she changed back into her cat form.

Just as Harry shifted back into his panther form Mrs Norris returned with Crookshanks beside her. The snub-nosed ginger cat sidled up to Harry and weaved through his front legs for a moment. Harry gave a brief swipe of Crookshank's head with his tongue, inwardly amused that Hermione's cat was the only one wasn't at all wary of him; both Mrs Norris and even Minerva gave him a wide berth at times.

Harry quickly picked up Pettigrew's scent again and began to follow it along the corridor, the three cats following along behind him. As they tracked the rat, the scent trail slowly began to grow both fresher and stronger and Harry almost unconsciously picked up his pace. When the scent finally became strong enough to have been laid down only moments before, Harry slowed into a hunting pace. The three cats mimicked his actions and they crept rather tensely along the corridor. A small movement up ahead had all four felines crouching and freezing in place. As they watched the movement coalesced into the scurrying form of a small rat and when he saw that the rat had one silver paw, Harry began to growl low in his chest.

The sound carried in the quiet corridor and the rat froze, looking around nervously. Before he could determine what had made that sound, the three cats had burst out of their positions behind Harry and streaked down one side of the corridor. Harry quickly followed them and the sudden movement of his large form drew the full attention of the rat. There was a panicked squeaking sound and the rat turned and started to scurry down the corridor. However he'd stared at Harry for just a fraction too long, certainly long enough for the three cats to make enough ground to catch up with him. And Harry had so completely drawn his attention, Wormtail hadn't even seen the three cats. As such when Crookshanks pounced on him, he didn't even see him coming.

Crookshanks proved yet again his intelligence at that moment. Though he had caught the rat, he did not bite it nor did he extend his claws more than necessary. He merely held the rat, helped by Mrs Norris when she arrived. Minerva quickly transformed back into her human form and whipped out her wand. The moment she had it pointing at the rat, Crrokshanks and Mrs Norris moved back and she stunned the rat with a quick Stupefy. Through this Harry had been pacing back and forth, growling and with his tail lashing angrily. Once Wormtail had been stunned he paced forward, his intent written on every inch of his sleek, black form.

"Barak! Harry!" Minerva's voice lashed out like a whip and Harry halted, one paw raised, claws unsheathed and gleaming in the dim light of the corridor.

"Change back now!" Minerva ordered.

Harry stayed as he was for a long, long moment then he slowly backed off to the other side of the corridor. He changed back, his gaze still fixed on the unconscious rat still being guarded by Crookshanks and Mrs Norris. He started when Minerva placed a hand on his shoulder and looked up at her.

"I understand your anger, Mr Potter," she said kindly. "But what you were planning was not a solution. Let the Aurors and the Ministry deal with him. I doubt that Voldemort will move mountains for him."

Harry took a deep shuddering breath then let it out slowly. "Yeah," he breathed. "I know. It's just…"

"I know," Minerva said gently. "Do not let your anger propel you into an action you would only come to regret."

Harry's gaze flicked up and he looked at her with surprise. She returned that look solemnly and he slowly nodded. She gave him a small nod then turned and conjured a small cage. She picked up the stunned rat and placed him in the cage, locking it securely then casting a number of spells around it.

"I shall take Mr Pettigrew here up to my office and summon the Aurors first thing in the morning," she said with grim satisfaction. "I suggest you get some sleep, Mr Potter."

Harry watched as she picked up the cage then he looked around the corridor that they were standing in.

"Um, I'm going to have a look around and see if I can figure out what he was doing here," he said thoughtfully.

Minerva eyed him archly for a moment then she nodded. "Very well. Try not to spend the entire night here. Your teachers will not be pleased if you sleep through their classes."

With that the Headmistress swept down the hall with the cage dangling from one hand. Crookshanks looked between Harry and the rapidly departing Headmistress then he quickly scampered after McGonagall. Mrs Norris eyed Harry with smug satisfaction and he bent down and gently patted the cat.

"Thank you," he murmured and Mrs Norris looked pleased.

Harry straightened again and looked around. This part of the school was disused and most of the rooms were locked. He pulled out his wand and cats a quick Lumos, playing the light around until he saw the small rat paw prints in the duct on the floor. Mrs Norris seemed to work out what he was doing and she sniffed around for a while before sitting in front of one of the doors, her tail flicking impatiently.

Harry walked up to the door and carefully turned the handle, pushing the door open and playing the light around inside. He frowned as he walked in and looked around. The room was liberally dotted with rat paw prints as well as larger footprints but other than that the only other thing in the room was a large mirror. Harry walked over to the mirror and just for a moment he thought it was the Mirror of Erised. When he got closer he realised it wasn't. It was about the same size but where the Mirror of Erised had an ornate gold frame with an inscription carved on the top, this mirror had a plain wooden frame of some kind of black wood. And the mirror showed no reflection; instead it showed a swirling greyness.

Harry looked into the swirling grey for a moment then he noticed that the footprints in the dust came to halt in front of the mirror as well. Clearly Pettigrew had spent some time standing in front of this mirror but why? Obviously _he_ knew how to work it. Harry frowned as he walked around the mirror, the light from his wand playing up and down as he examined it. He had taken a look at the back of the mirror and was just about to walk back around to the front when something near the base of the mirror caught his eye. He crouched down and shone the light from his wand onto the base of the back of the mirror. When he saw what had caught his attention, his eyes widened and he gasped.

There at the very base of the mirror was a small, carved paw print and just beside it a carved crescent moon.

"Padfoot and Moony," Harry whispered. He then stood up and barked, "Dobby!"

There was a small pop and the little house elf appeared by his side.

"Harry Potter sir! What can Dobby do to help you?"

Harry was pleased to see Dobby looking so eager. The house elf had been a little put out by Harry's peremptory dismissal at Malfoy Manor and it had taken a fair amount of fast talking from Harry to mollify the little creature.

"Dobby, could you please go to Professor Lupin's rooms and ask him if he would join me here?" Harry asked.

"Dobby would be happy to do this," Dobby said then he disappeared with a crack.

Harry walked around to the front of the mirror and waited patiently. After about twenty minutes, the door opened and Remus came in, looking slightly breathless and a touch irritated.

"Harry! What's this all about?" he asked with some exasperation. "Do you have _any_ idea what the time is?"

Harry shone the light from his wand on his watch and grimaced a little at the time. It was close to one in the morning. Light bloomed throughout the room and he looked up to find that Remus had lit the torches around the wall.

"Sorry, Remus," Harry said mostly unrepentantly. "But what on earth is this?" He gestured to the mirror behind him.

Remus frowned as Harry moved aside then his eyes widened and he gaped.

"The mirror," he breathed. "I always wondered what happened to it."

"What does it do?" Harry asked urgently.

"It lets you see into the staff room and the teacher's offices," Remus said, a blush colouring his cheeks. "Or at least that's what it's supposed to do. It's a bit erratic though; you can't view the rooms for more than about ten seconds at a time. And sometimes it doesn't work at all. Sirius and I could never quite work out what was going wrong. We always suspected there was some kind of spell on the staff room and offices that was interfering with the mirror." He frowned as he glanced around the room. "Why?"

"We caught Wormtail about half an hour ago," Harry said. "It looks like he's been getting in through the Chamber of Secrets and been using this room."

Remus' jaw dropped. "How long?"

"Not long, I think," Harry replied. "The scent trail wasn't _that_ old."

Remus looked confused at that statement then he snorted with amusement. "Prowling the corridors again, Barak?"

Harry grinned sheepishly at him. "Couldn't sleep."

Remus gave him a worried look. "You should speak to Madam Pomfrey. She could give you something for that." He looked over at the mirror again and frowned thoughtfully. "I know you said Peter got in through the Chamber but how? I thought you said Parseltongue was needed to open it."

"Except I'm not sure I actually closed the door when I left the Chamber," Harry said with a grimace. "I was a bit more worried about Ginny and Ron and how the hell we were going to get out of there."

"Are you going to go down and have a look?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded. "The Headmistress asked me to go down with Ron and Hermione tomorrow to have a look."

Remus nodded slowly. "And where's Peter?"

"The Headmistress has him," Harry replied. "She's going to turn him over to the Aurors tomorrow."

"You…didn't do anything?" Remus asked carefully.

Harry smiled mirthlessly. "I _wanted_ to but Minerva stopped me. She said that I shouldn't do something in anger that I'll just end up regretting later."

"She's right," Remus said though Harry couldn't tell who he was trying to convince just then. Finally the greying werewolf shook his head. "I think we should _both_ get back to bed. You have a lot on your plate for tomorrow and so do I." He glanced over at the mirror. "And I think I'll come back up here tomorrow and remove that mirror."

"How does it work?" Harry asked as they both headed for the door and Remus doused the lights.

Remus chuckled. "Same way as the Map."

"So much for originality," Harry teased.

"It was still in the testing phase," Remus replied with a small laugh. "We planned on changing the password later."

"How come it was just you and Sirius?" Harry asked curiously. "I saw the carving of the paw print and crescent moon on the back."

"I wondered how you knew to get me. Well, Peter wasn't much good at the sort of magic we were using though he knew about what we were doing and it was going to be a present for your Dad," Remus replied sheepishly.

"Gee, my Dad got the _best_ presents," Harry said dryly as they came to halt at the point where they needed to part ways.

Remus laughed. "Pity we never managed to get it to work properly."

"_Now_ I believe you were a Marauder," Harry said with a grin. "That was definitely an appropriate Marauder response."

"Why, thank you," Remus said dryly. "Now get to bed."

Harry gave him a mock salute then headed back to the Tower.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

The next morning Harry told Ron and Hermione what had happened. They were both pleased to hear that Pettigrew had been caught but horrified that he'd been able to sneak in and amused at _how_ he'd been caught. When Harry informed them that the Headmistress wanted them to go down into the Chamber to find out exactly how Pettigrew got in.

"Really?" Ron said with mild excitement. "Cool! I missed it last time."

"I think that's a good thing," Harry replied flatly and Ron blushed.

"How do we get out?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Casimir," Harry said with a wry smile. "Apparently he's done it before."

Ron snickered and Hermione smiled. The news that Casimir and Fawkes were one and the same had surprised all of them and when Harry had told the phoenix his secret was blown, Casimir had merely looked smugly amused.

"So when do we go?" Ron asked.

"After classes are over this afternoon?" Harry suggested.

Both Ron and Hermione nodded and the trio turned their attention back to their breakfasts.

Once classes had finished for the day, they returned their bags to their dorms and headed down to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry heaved a sigh of relief when they walked in and the ghost was not there. He walked over to the basins and found the tap with the snake engraved on it. He hissed "Open up" in Parseltongue then stepped back to watch as the sink sank out of sight to revel the pipe that led down to the Chamber of Secrets.

"Wow," Hermione said as she watched this happen. "And you two figured this out on your own?"

"Gee, thanks, Hermione," Harry said dryly. "Yes, we did."

Hermione bit her lip to smother a smile. "I'm sorry. That…didn't sound very good, did it?"

"No, not really," Ron said with a grin.

Hermione gave him a look then went back to peering down the pipe. "So what now?"

"We go down," Harry said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

He then lowered himself into the pipe and let go. He slid down the dark pipe wincing as he remembered his last trip down here. He flew out the end of the pipe and hit the ground with a grunt. He pushed himself to his feet and moved aside as first Ron and then Hermione came zooming out of the pipe. He helped them to their feet and they looked around the dank stone tunnel. They lit their wands using Lumos and starting walking down the tunnel, picking their way through the bones and skulls on the floor.

The snakeskin was still there and Harry and Ron edged past it carefully. Hermione paused for a moment to examine the skin then shook her head.

"Was the Basilisk _really_ that big?" she asked. "I sort of caught a glimpse of it in the mirror but I couldn't determine the size."

"Yeah, it was that big," Harry replied, his voice echoing in the tunnel.

Shortly after that they came to the rock fall and they crawled through the opening Ron had made. They continued to follow the tunnel in silence until they got to the stone doors that marked the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

"They're closed," Ron said quietly.

"Yeah," Harry replied, looking around carefully. "Change into Rufus and have a sniff around. I'll do the same. Maybe Wormtail didn't come through here after all."

Ron nodded and both he and Harry changed into their animagus forms. At first the smells in the tunnel were a bit overwhelming; the scent of the stagnant water, mould, slime, moss and even the tiny amount of rotting flesh that had escaped through the doors invading their noses. After a while they began to sort out the scents and ignore the irrelevant ones. Finally they found what they were looking for, the scent of Wormtail lingering on the floor of the tunnel. Both Harry and Ron changed back and looked at each other.

"Okay, he was here," Harry said with some confusion. "But how did he get into the Chamber? You need to be able to speak Parseltongue."

"Wait," Hermione said. "You need to use Parseltongue to get _into_ the Chamber but what about _out_ of the Chamber? You don't need it for that, do you?"

"No," Harry said slowly. "At least I don't think so. But how would that help Wormtail? He'd need to be able to get out of the castle."

"He could just walk out the front doors," Hermione said. "The wards keep Death Eaters from entering the Hogwarts grounds. If I remember correctly, they don't stop a Death Eater from _leaving_ the grounds. I'm not sure if they'd give an alert if that happened though."

"So he comes in through the Chamber and leaves from the front doors?" Ron asked.

Hermione nodded. "All in his rat form so no one notices him."

"Clever," Harry said sourly. He then turned to the snakes on the doors and hissed, "_Open_."

The doors slid apart and a horrible rotting smell washed over them for a moment making them choke and gag. It soon dissipated and they leaned against the walls of the tunnel and gave each other wide-eyed stares.

"I wouldn't have thought the smell would linger like that," Harry said. "The thing must have rotted away a couple of years ago."

"It's probably just residual smell," Hermione said grimacing and taking deep breaths. "It seems to have faded pretty quickly."

"Thank Merlin," Ron said with a shake of his head.

Harry pushed himself off the wall and headed for the doors. Ron and Hermione followed suit and the three of them walked into the Chamber. Harry stared straight ahead while Ron and Hermione stared at the snake entwined columns. At the other end of the Chamber lay the skeletal corpse of the Basilisk.

Hermione gasped when she saw it. "It's _huge_! How on earth did you defeat it, Harry?"

"Fawkes and a lot of luck," Harry replied shortly, not really wanting to remember the fight.

"One of the fangs is still intact," Hermione noted absently. "You'll have to bring Prof…his greasiness down here when this is all over. He'd love to have it. Basilisk venom is very useful for some potions and it's _very_ hard to get hold of. And expensive."

"Well, with any luck, I'll be able to do that," Harry said grimly. "Look let's have a sniff around and see if my hunch is right."

Ron nodded and he and Harry transformed. They nosed around until they picked up Wormtail's scent, both sneezing at the residual smell of the rotting corse that still lingered in the room for those who could smell it. They tracked it to the base of the statue then Hermione transformed and flew around the large room once before perching carefully in the mouth of the statue. She hooted once in frustrating then Harry stared at the statue intently.

He eyed the slightly pitted surface, worn by the actions of the Basilisk and time, then he leapt up onto it, clinging to the stone grimly with his claws. He couldn't get an ideal grip but it was certainly good enough for his purposes. He carefully clawed his way up the statue with one perilous moment where his claws slipped. Hermione quickly vacated the mouth of the statue and flew down to join Ron. Both of them transformed back into their human forms and watched with concern as Harry continued to climb. After several heart-stopping moments Harry reached the mouth and he balanced there for a moment, looking down into the depths to see another pipe leading downwards.

"Be careful, Barak," Hermione called out.

Harry carefully transformed back, teetering on the lip of the pipe for a moment before balancing himself again.

"I'm fine," he yelled back. "There's a pipe of some kind that leads down. I'm going to follow it."

"Are you sure you should?" Hermione called back. "You don't know where it goes."

"Well, if my idea is right I think it leads way out into the Forest or even further," Harry shouted. "The Basilisk had to eat somehow and it couldn't get into the school until Riddle opened the statue."

"What about us then?" Ron yelled.

"I'll call Casimir and ask him to take you back up the pipe," Harry replied. "Then you can go down to the Entrance Hall and wait for me there."

"Okay," Hermione replied dubiously.

Harry called for the phoenix that he and the Headmaster now apparently shared and Casimir appeared in a shower of flame. Harry asked him to help Ron and Hermione to get out and Casimir warbled an affirmative note before flying down and circling the heads of Ron and Hermione. Harry gave them a quick wave then let himself slide down into the pipe. The ride was initially fast and a touch frightening but soon the pipe levelled out a bit and he slowed down enough that when the pipe ended he was able to control his fall to the floor of the room he'd emerged into.

He pushed himself to his feet and pulled his wand out, lighting it and looking around. The floor was littered with bones both large and small and Harry was fairly sure he'd found the Basilisk's lair. As he slowly walked across the room the light from his wand showed another tunnel in the wall opposite. He walked over and peered in. Even with the light from his wand the tunnel was dark and dank. He grimaced and climbed in.

At first the tunnel ran horizontally then it slowly began to slope upwards at a shallow angle. After nearly half an hour of climbing, the light in the tunnel began to improve and the air started to become fresher. Finally he came to the end of the tunnel which was covered with vines and brambles. He used his wand to clear the way and climbed out to find himself standing in a small clearing in the woods. There was a large hill to his left and he quickly climbed up it to try and see where he was. The slowly growing dusk made things difficult to see but he was fairly sure the large slightly ominous stretch of forest lying below him was the Forbidden Forest and the dark blot in the distance was the school. He tucked his wand into his robes then transformed into his panther form and took off down the hill and into the Forest.

Shortly after he got into the Forest, he climbed up one of the large trees and continued on his journey through the branches. It made the trip slightly slower but he was fairly sure it would be safer. When he finally emerged from the other side of the Forest, he found himself on the opposite side of the Lake from the school and also that night had fallen while he'd been travelling. He heaved a sigh of relief and ran around the lake and up to the school. When he got closer he saw that Ron and Hermione were standing on the steps looking worried and nervous. He transformed back not far from the steps and they whipped around when they saw the movement.

"Harry!" Hermione said with obvious relief. "Are you okay?"

Harry nodded. "I'm fine. The tunnel opened out into what was probably the Basilisk's lair and another tunnel led from there to a clearing on the opposite side of the Forest."

Hermione and Ron peered into the darkness then the three of them headed inside and towards the Great Hall.

"No wonder nobody knew of it," Hermione said thoughtfully. "There's nothing over there except wilderness and forest. There'd be lots of animals for the Basilisk to eat without coming into contact with either the wizarding or muggle worlds. And if it got a large enough animal, like a deer or something, it wouldn't need to eat that often."

They sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table and served themselves dinner, ignoring the other conversations going on in the room.

"So I guess we've proved that someone could get in to the school," Ron said quietly. "What do we do now?"

"Close it somehow," Harry replied. "I'm just not sure how. I don't really want to collapse any of the tunnels. They might do something bad to the foundations of Hogwarts."

Ron grimaced and Hermione frowned thoughtfully.

"How did Riddle open the statue?" Hermione asked curiously. "I think I remember you saying something about that but I can't remember what."

"Uh, he used Parseltongue," Harry said. "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four."

"Modest, wasn't he?" Ron said with a snort.

"That's it then," Hermione said with satisfaction. "Close the statue. Obviously it can't be opened from the other side. There are probably spells that ensure that."

"Okay, we go back down there after dinner," Harry said quietly. "The sooner we shut that entrance to the school the better."

Ron and Hermione nodded and the trio quickly ate their dinner. Once they were finished Harry hurried up to the Head Table and spoke to the Headmistress. He told her what they'd found and what they were planning on doing and in return she told him that Tonks and three other Aurors had turned up this morning to take Pettigrew into custody. They had apparently promised that Pettigrew would be interrogated using veritaserum. Harry returned to his friends and they headed back to the Chamber.

They once again slid down the pipe and made their way past the snakeskin and the rock fall. Harry opened the doors again and they walked into the Chamber, coming to a halt in front of the statue. They stared up at it for a moment then Harry looked over at his friends.

"The only problem with this idea is I don't know what to say to close it," he said with a wry grin.

"What did Riddle say to open it again?" Hermione asked.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four," Harry replied.

"Maybe it's something like 'Be silent, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four'," Hermione said hesitantly.

"I don't know," Harry replied with a grimace. "Besides do you have any idea how stupid I'd feel saying that?"

"You just say open or open up to get through the doors, don't you?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, so?" Harry replied.

"So maybe just 'close' would work on the statue," Ron suggested.

Harry grinned. "Always start with the simple solution first." He turned and faced the statue then hissed, "_Close, Slytherin_."

There was a moment of nothing then the statue's mouth slowly began to close. Once it was done, Harry thumped Ron on the shoulder.

"Well done, Ron," he said with a grin.

Ron smiled back. "I just couldn't imagine Riddle spouting that idiocy when he was on his own. Same with Slytherin. There's probably more than one phrase that opens it. One to make you sound impressive in front of your followers and one that's simple and quick when you're on your own. Riddle used the long one because he knew Harry could speak Parseltongue and he wanted to impress him. Or intimidate him."

"But they wouldn't know," Hermione objected as they headed for the door. "Not many people can speak Parseltongue, even back in Slytherin's time."

"But the longer sentence _sounds_ more impressive," Ron said. "It's sounds better than just a single hissed 'open'."

Hermione nodded slowly. "I suppose you have a point. It certainly worked so you must be right." She bit her lip. "You don't think Voldemort would open it again?"

"I doubt it," Harry replied as they climbed through the hole in the rock fall. "He can't get into the school easily and I would guess you can't open the mouth from the inside of the statue. You said it yourself."

"I could be wrong," Hermione said.

"I don't think you are," Harry replied. "Otherwise the Basilisk would have opened it. It was reasonably intelligent."

"Oh, of course," Hermione said as they squeezed past the discarded skin.

Once they got back to the pipe, Harry called Casimir and the phoenix flew them back up into the bathroom. They thanked Casimir and walked out into the corridor.

"I'm going to go and speak to _them_," Harry said quietly. "I think we'd better let his greasiness know where Pettigrew is."

"Do you want us to come?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "Nah, you two can stay here."

Ron and Hermione smiled at each other then headed off for the Head Students' common room. Harry ducked back up to the dorm and grabbed his Invisibility Cloak before heading down to the village. When he got to the Headmaster's room, he draped the cloak over the back of the couch and greeted Dumbledore and Snape.

"We caught Pettigrew last night," he said after sitting down and accepting the cup of tea Dumbledore offered.

Dumbledore looked interested but Snape snorted derisively.

"That is no great surprise," he sneered.

"May I ask who 'we' were?" Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Um, Minerva, Mrs Norris, Crookshanks and myself," harry replied.

"Ah, you have succeeded in your animagus transformation then," Dumbledore said with approval.

Harry nodded. "I'm a panther. Ron's a dog and Hermione's an owl."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said. "They were not with you?"

"Erm, I've been having a bit of trouble sleeping lately," Harry admitted reluctantly. "I usually go prowling the corridors when that happens. The other cats sometimes join me. Mostly Mrs Norris or Crookshanks though."

"You should see Madam Pomfrey about that," the Headmaster said kindly.

"That's what Remus said," Harry mumbled.

"Did Pettigrew find what he was looking for?" Snape asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, he did but Remus said that it had never really worked properly. It either only worked for a few seconds or didn't work at all."

"This is the mirror you were speaking of," Dumbledore said to Snape.

The Potions Master nodded. "Pettigrew mentioned it would be an ideal way of eavesdropping on the Headmistress. The Dark Lord believes that Potter discusses everything with her."

"Do you?" Dumbledore asked Harry with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really," Harry replied with a small smile. "We usually tell her what we're going to do unless we think she doesn't need to know, like our trips down here. We _do_ discuss a lot with Moody and Remus but even then we make the final decision for ourselves."

"Where?" Snape asked.

"In the common room that Hermione and I share," Harry replied. "Under the shelter of every warding and silencing charm we know, including Muffliato."

"So he would not have been able to listen in on your decision making process anyway," Snape said with satisfaction. "Good. I can use this for my own purposes."

"How did he get in?" Dumbledore asked. "Severus wasn't entirely sure."

"Through the Chamber," Harry replied. He quickly explained about the tunnel from the mouth of the statue to the Basilisk's lair and the second tunnel that led from there to the clearing beyond the Forbidden Forest.

"So we went back and closed it," Harry finished. "It turned out to be pretty easy and unless Voldemort finds some way into the school he won't be able to send anyone through that way anymore."

"Very well done," Dumbledore replied. "Now I believe Severus had some news for you. He was going to leave it with me but since you are here he may as well tell you."

Harry looked over at the Potions Master curiously.

Snape scowled. "I will not be able to keep Nagini alive for much longer," he said. "She is fading fast and it is taking all of my skill just to keep her alive and conscious."

"I'll take Asmodeus back to the Gaunts' house," Harry replied. "How long do you think we have?"

Snape hesitated then grimaced. "Three weeks. No more than that."

Harry swallowed hard. "That's all?" he said nervously.

Snape looked like he was about to snap back but then he saw the nervous and fearful look on Harry's face.

"It was inevitable. You know that," he said neutrally instead.

Harry sighed and slumped in his chair. "I know," he said softly. "It's just I'm…still not entirely convinced I'm going to survive this."

"You must not think like that, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "You have great power, you are very well trained and always remember that you posses a power that Voldemort does not have. _That_ will be the most important thing in the end. That power will make the difference."

"But I don't understand, Professor," Harry said, sounding a little lost. "How can…_love_ make such a big difference?"

"Love gives a person great power," Dumbledore replied. "You will know what to do when the time comes, Harry."

Harry looked dubious then he shook his head and turned to Snape. "So once Nagini leaves with Asmodeus, what then?"

"I shall wait until the Dark Lord leaves to search for her," Snape said calmly. "And he will. He will _need_ to know what has happened to her. Once he leaves I shall take Hufflepuff's cup and come here. I will then contact you using a Patronus. I do not know how much time we will have once I take the cup before the Dark Lord makes _his_ move."

Harry nodded. "So that's if everything goes well. What if it all falls in a hole?"

"Then what happens, happens," Snape replied grimly. "But whatever happens I shall get the cup to you. The rest will then be in your hands." He paused. "It is highly unlikely that I will be able to get a message to you before I send the Patronus once I am here. You and your friends will have to be ready to move at any moment."

Harry nodded. "Okay. I'll make sure we're ready and I'll let Moody and Remus know so that they can get the Order ready to move as well." He ran a hand through his hair then got to his feet. "I'd better get back."

"It shall all be over soon," Dumbledore said soothingly. "And once Severus has returned with Hufflepuff's cup there will be no need for me to hide any longer. _That_ shall be a shock for Voldemort. Perhaps even a big enough shock to throw him off balance sufficiently."

Harry gave the Headmaster a smile. "I hope so. Thank you, Professor Snape. We'll be ready when the time comes."

Snape gave him a nod and Harry grabbed his cloak and slipped out of the room.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Harry warned his friends of what was going to happen some time in the next three weeks then did the same for Moody and Remus the next morning. He spent some time talking to Asmodeus and on the weekend he walked down to the gates and apparated to Little Hangleton. He left Asmodeus in the Gaunt's house with a supply of food and a promise that once it was all over he would return to get the little snake. He returned to Hogwarts and those in the know settled into a nervous wait.

Moody had them in training sessions, both individual, in pairs or as a trio, whenever they had spare time and Remus often joined them to help, usually acting as the aggressor. He had finally received word from the werewolves that wasn't exactly what he was hoping for but looked to be the best they would get. The werewolves had refused to join their side; they just didn't trust the wizards to keep their promises. Remus said he couldn't blame them for this since the wizarding world had a long history of not honouring promises to werewolves. However the werewolves had also sad they would not join Voldemort. Most of them were planning on finding some place safe and waiting to see what would happen. Harry couldn't find it in himself to get angry about this choice of neutrality; as far as the werewolves were aware Dumbledore was dead and they just didn't know enough about him to trust that he would hold to his promises or even if he could promise _anything_.

Harry also had Neville get the DA into readiness. He couldn't tell him why this was needed but after a couple of questions that were awkwardly evaded Neville just nodded and did as Harry asked. By the end of the second week everything was in readiness and everyone was as prepared as they could get for whatever was coming.

During their rare moments of spare time, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny spent their time in the Head Students' common room. They rarely did homework; mostly they just curled up on the couches, Ginny in Harry's arms and Hermione in Ron's. They sometimes talked in a desultory manner but mostly they just stayed lost in their own thoughts.

They were sitting in their usual places on the Friday of the third week when things finally came to a head. They were having a quiet conversation about what they might like to do after they finished school when a silver phoenix flew through the wall and came to a halt in front of Harry and Ginny.

"Come now." Snape's harsh voice sounded throughout the room.

The trio had taken to carrying their robes around with them at all times and they leapt to their feet.

"Go and tell Moody what's happening," Harry told Ginny sharply. "Then go and get the DA together. I don't know whether anything's going to happen tonight and I don't know if we'll be coming back."

Ginny nodded, her eyes full of worry and fear. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely.

"Be careful," she said, her voice shaking. "You _have_ to survive this. You _will_ survive this."

Harry nodded, unable to summon any words. Ginny let him go and ran towards the door. She pulled it open then paused and looked back at the trio.

"Ron, Hermione, be careful and look out for Harry." They nodded and she looked at her boyfriend. "And Harry…I love you."

Harry stared at her and gave her a watery smile. "I love you too," he said in a rush.

Ginny smiled as best she could then disappeared out of the door. The trio quickly changed then ran out of the room and headed for the village. They didn't bother with too much in the way of stealth this time, knowing that it no longer mattered. They threw open the back door of the Hog's Head and thundered down the stairs to the Headmaster's room. Dumbledore was standing in front of the fireplace, his hands clasped behind his back and looking determined and intimidating. Snape was seated on the couch, cradling a small golden cup in his hands. He looked tired and worn, his face deeply lined, his skin even paler than normal and his hair lank and greasy. The two men looked up when Harry and his friends ran into the room.

"Here it is," Snape said abruptly, holding the cup out to Harry.

Harry reached out and took the small cup then gave Snape a good look. "Are you alright?"

Snape grimaced. "The Dark Lord was displeased that Nagini was dying. He was even more displeased that I was unable to do anything."

"You didn't answer my question," Harry stated.

Snape scowled. "I am well enough."

Harry sighed. "I suppose that's all the answer I'm going to get." He looked over at the Headmaster. "Is it safe enough to destroy this here?"

"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "The room is well protected else my magical signature would have been found long ago. Let me just get the rest of us behind a shield."

Harry nodded and watched as Dumbledore gestured for Snape, Ron and Hermione to join him in one corner of the room. He then put up a strong, shimmering shield. Once that was done, Harry shifted the couch and chairs back and placed the cup down on the floor. He quickly established the shunt then gained access to the containment spells. He was relieved to see nothing unusual on the cup and slowly and carefully worked his way through the containment spells. Once he'd reached the innermost ward, he lit up the underlying rune with a quick "Manifesto" then concentrated on the rune and dispelled it with a quiet "Finite incantatem."

He put up his shields in the strange quiet moment that occurred just before the containment spells collapsed then reached for the magic as the cascading collapse began. Once again the cascade reached the edge of a wildfire event but once again between the shields, the shunt and the wards on the room, that was as far as it went. When the final containment ward collapsed and the last of the magic disappeared into the shunt, Harry sat back on his heels and took a deep breath. He let it out slowly as he looked down at the cup.

This time the strange Dark and evil shimmering was actually inside the cup, sitting there like some kind of malevolent drink.

Harry concentrated hard on destroying the soul fragment then said, "Deletrius."

Once again that strange wailing swept through the room then the both the shimmering _and_ the wailing faded and disappeared. Harry stared down at the golden cup then slowly pushed himself to his feet. He swayed wearily for a moment then looked over at the small group still standing in the corner.

"It's done," he said firmly then he staggered over and collapsed on the couch though in truth he didn't feel anywhere hear as tired as he had the last time he'd done this.

He watched as the Headmaster took the shield down then his friends rushed over and sat down on either side of him.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Okay," Harry replied. "Not as bad as last time but still a bit tired."

"Drink this, Mr Potter," Snape said, holding out a steaming goblet. "A potion of my own making. It should help."

Harry took the goblet and drank the content down in a rush, grimacing at the taste. He felt energy flow through him again and the tiredness washed away. He handed the goblet back with a smile.

"Thank you, Severus," he said.

"What now?" Ron asked.

Harry got off the couch and picked up the cup. "Now we go back to the school," he said firmly as an idea bloomed in his mind. "I want all of the Horcrux objects before we go and confront Voldemort."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Just an idea I've got," Harry replied.

"We shall come with you," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "It cannot be long before Voldemort realises what has happened and I think our place is at Hogwarts."

Harry nodded and the five headed up the stairs. They were not disturbed as they walked through the village and the first time they were seen was when they walked into the Entrance Hall. Minerva was standing there, talking with Moody, Kingsley, Remus and Neville. They turned when the doors of the school opened and when they realised who was standing next to Harry, Ron and Hermione the jaws those had not known sagged opened and they stared in open disbelief.

"Albus?" Minerva whispered in shock.

"My dear Minerva," Dumbledore said kindly. "I must apologise for the terrible time I have put you…put you _all_…through. It became necessary for me to die and to die at the hands of Severus. However as you can see, I am very much alive and Severus is most _definitely_ on our side. As I have said many times before."

Minerva clutched at the front of her robes. "Albus…Severus," she gasped.

Kingsley had been staring at them in silence. Now he finally moved and he levelled his wand at the two men. "Prove that you are who you say you are," he said suspiciously.

Albus chuckled. "In your Sixth Year you came to some grief over a young…"

"Enough!" Kingsley said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I trust that is sufficient idiocy to prove we are in fact Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape," the Potions Master sneered.

Kingsley snorted and tucked his wand away. "I think that's sufficient proof," he said quietly. "Why come out of hiding now?"

"Because the last of the Horcruxes has been destroyed," Harry said firmly. "And it won't be long before Voldemort finds out that Severus is a spy and makes some kind of move. Minerva, I need the other Horcruxes; the diary, the locket, the ring and the Ravenclaw artefact."

"I…yes…very well, Mr Potter," Minerva said, finally tearing her eyes away from Dumbledore and Snape.

She turned without another word and headed up the stairs.

"She's going to be furious once she gets over her shock," Moody growled with amusement.

Kingsley looked at him then at Remus. "You two knew," he said accusingly.

"We only found out just before Christmas," Moody replied. "Potter and his friends have known since the start of the school year."

"You didn't say anything," Kingsley said flatly.

"I know," Harry replied calmly.

Kingsley waited for a moment then he glared. "Why not?" he demanded.

"Because it was necessary," Harry replied firmly. "Explanations can wait until after this is all over."

Kingsley looked unhappy but subsided. Harry looked over at Neville who was staring at the two men with surprise and, in the case of Snape, wariness.

"Are the DA ready?" Harry asked.

Neville started. "Uh, yes. They're waiting in the Great Hall. Do you really think V…Voldemort will come here?"

"I think he'll send his Death Eaters here," Harry replied. "I'm kind of hoping to distract him from coming himself."

"Oh," Neville said. "Good. Um, good luck?"

Harry gave a wry half-grin. "Thank you. Good luck yourself."

At that moment pain seared through Harry's scar and he fell to his knees, clutching at his forehead. Ron and Hermione grabbed at him but he quickly felt their hands leave. Someone else grabbed him by the shoulders then, their grip harsh and painful.

"Occlude your mind!" came Snape's angry voice. "You know how to do it!"

Harry gasped and concentrated, trying to put the lessons that Snape had pounded into his head into action. He'd finally been successful at learning Occlumency in the last month before Snape returned to Voldemort the last time. He clenched his hands into fists and he gathered himself and shoved Voldemort out of his mind and then blocked him from getting back in. He then opened his mind and looked up into Snape's face.

"He's found Nagini," he rasped. "And he's figured out that she didn't exactly die of natural causes."

As Harry said this Minerva returned from her office holding a bag. She looked at Harry and Snape with alarm and hurried over.

"What is going on?" she demanded.

"Voldemort," Harry said as he pulled away from Snape and got to his feet. "It's time, Minerva."

The Headmistress handed him the bag and Harry quickly checked to see if everything was in there. He then pulled out the cup and placed it in the bag. He shrank the bag with a muttered word and shoved it in his robes.

"Call in the Order and the Ministry," he said to Minerva. "We're going."

Minerva paled then nodded. She caught Harry by the arm when he turned to go and pulled him into a quick hug.

"Good luck, Harry," she said when she let him go. "Return safely. You too, Ron, Hermione."

The trio nodded and jogged out of the castle, leaving the defenders behind them. They headed down to the gates and just as they were about to apparate out they heard the sounds of many people apparating in. They looked over to see masked and robed Death Eaters arriving near the Forest. Harry looked at his friends.

"Let's go," he said quietly. "This isn't our fight."

Ron and Hermione nodded and just as they apparated out they saw Greyback and his pack arriving by portkey. They arrived near the Gaunts' house at Little Hangleton and turned towards the manor.

"Should we check if Nagini's really dead?" Ron asked quietly as they strode towards Riddle Manor.

Harry shook his head. "She's dead. Voldemort tried to revive her and it didn't work."

"What's our plan?" Hermione asked, his voice shrill with nerves.

"Stay alive," Harry replied shortly. "Voldemort's strong and he's going to want to…well, _play_ with us first. Also, I doubt he's alone. My guess is he'll at least have Bellatrix and either Draco or Lucius with him."

"No plan?" Ron asked dubiously.

Harry shook his head. "We're going to be on his ground and he's going to _think_ he has the advantage. I don't think a plan's going to help us. Besides every time we've succeeded in the past we haven't had a plan. Plans can be countered; making it up as we go along makes it difficult to do that."

"Sounds about normal for us," Ron said with false cheer.

Hermione gave a weak laugh. "Yes, I suppose it does."

"Just remember Moody's training," Harry replied as they passed through the wards; they could feel the slight resistance as they walked. "He knows we're here now. This is it."

They walked in silence until they reached the front doors of the manor then they stopped and looked at each other.

"You're my best friends and I love you both," Hermione said throwing her arms around the two boys and dragging them to her.

She kissed Harry on the cheek then let him go and pulled Ron into a full-blooded kiss on the lips. Ron returned it with fervour and when they broke apart they were both blushing.

"I…I love you, Hermione," Ron said awkwardly as his ears turned bright red. He turned to Harry. "Harry, you've always been a brother to me and I…love you," he stammered.

Harry swallowed hard and blinked back his tears. "I love you both," he said simply.

None of them spoke of what they were about to face nor did they speak of what was to come afterwards. They hugged each other again then Harry started walking up the stairs. Ron and Hermione took flanking positions next to him then Harry slowly reached out and pushed the manor doors open. They stepped into the large entrance foyer to find Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy standing on the other side of the room.

"Harry Potter," Lucius sneered. "I believe I told you many years ago you'd come to the same sticky end as your parents. I believe this will be the night it happens."

"Did you enjoy Azkaban, Mr Malfoy?" Harry asked flatly. "You'll be back there soon enough."

"Itty bitty Potter thinks he can win," Bellatrix crooned, her eyes gleaming with insanity. It appeared her second visit to Azkaban had tipped her completely over the edge.

Harry didn't even bother talking to her; he just pulled his wand out and levelled it at the insane witch. He didn't react even when Ron gave him a nudge in the ribs.

"These two are ours," the red head murmured. "You go and deal with Voldemort."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"Absolutely sure," Hermione replied. "Get ready."

Harry surreptitiously braced himself and when Ron and Hermione let fly with twin Stupefys he darted over towards the staircase and ran up as fast as he could. He ducked when Hermione screamed at him and felt a spell fly over his head as he continued to run. When he got to the first landing, he risked a glance back down and saw that Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy were fully involved in fighting Ron and Hermione. He hesitated for a brief moment, wanting nothing more than to return and help his friends. He took a deep breath and resolutely turned away, heading up the stairs to the fight waiting for him.

He felt an odd sense of déjà vu as he walked up the stairs, remembering this path from the strange and terrible vision he'd had before his Fourth Year. And to add to that sense of déjà vu, Voldemort was waiting for him in the same room he'd been in that night. Harry walked in, gripping his wand tightly.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort said in greeting. "So it comes to this. Tonight I shall defeat you once and for all. Tonight you shall not run. Tonight there is no portkey waiting to whisk you back to Hogwarts. Tonight there is no mother ready to die for you and give you her protection. Tonight it is just you and me and then there will just be me."

"You've been wanting to know the prophecy for many years, Tom," Harry said, ignoring what Voldemort had just said, his voice firm and showing no signs of his nerves and fear. "Would you like me to tell you now?"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed at the use of his real name. "Why would you tell me?" he asked warily.

Harry shrugged with an idleness he didn't feel. "I'm sure you'll feel better when you die to know what it said. I'd hate for you to die with your curiosity unsatisfied."

Smug amusement flowed across Voldemort's face. "So _I_ am going to die, am I? That is impossible, Harry. I have made sure of _that_. But by all means, satisfy my curiosity. Tell me the prophecy."

Harry took a deep breath. "_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord has not and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives_."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed again. "Marked as his _equal_?" he sneered, his eyes flicking to the scar that was throbbing painfully on Harry's forehead. "A mere boy is my equal? I think not. What is this power you possess?"

Harry smiled mirthlessly. "I only said I'd tell you the prophecy, Tom. I didn't say I'd interpret it for you."

Voldemort snarled soundlessly and raised his wand. "I think there has been enough talking, Harry. _Crucio_."

Harry collapsed to the floor as pain ripped through him but he grimly swallowed the scream that was threatening. He rolled so that he was facing Voldemort and put some of Moody's lessons into practice, wordlessly casting Expelliarmus. Voldemort's eyes widened as he was thrown across the room but he managed to keep hold of his wand. It was enough to end the Cruciatus spell however.

Harry scrambled to his feet and yelled, "Stupefy!"

Red light lanced out from the end of his wand, arcing at Voldemort before deflecting off the Dark Lord's hastily erected shield and smashing into the wall.

"You've grown strong, Harry," Voldemort said as he regained his feet. "I am impressed. You are a much more worthy opponent than last time we faced each other."

A sickly yellow light burst out of the end of Voldemort's wand and Harry ducked and rolled to avoid it, flicking a spell at the other wizard in return.

"How long has Severus been working for you?" Voldemort asked as he shifted around.

Harry moved in response. "He hasn't been working for me," Harry said, telling only a small lie. "He's been working for the same person all along. Albus Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore is dead," Voldemort snarled.

"That's what he wanted you to believe," Harry replied with a malicious grin. "He's very much alive. He's back at Hogwarts, defending the school along with Snape."

Curses and hexes flew back and forth for a few minutes and both wizards ducked and dodged, deflecting the spells with shields.

"And where is your mighty Trinity?" Voldemort sneered as he knocked a wrecked chair out of his way.

"The Trinity only ever existed to keep you busy," Harry replied with a sneer of his own. "Snape did his work well, talking us up and making us into a bogey man to scare you. Oh, Moody trained us to work as a team but the Trinity was only there to replace Dumbledore in your mind."

Voldemort snarled and unleashed a series of spells that Harry desperately fended off. More than once he attempted to trigger the Priori Incantatem but each time Voldemort either hurried his spell or ceased casting it. Finally he managed to overwhelm Harry and knocked him to the ground. Harry kept a tight grip on his wand as he struggled to get his breath back. He saw Voldemort stalking towards him and he scuttled backwards until his back thumped into the wall.

"And so it ends, Harry," Voldemort crooned as he pointed his wand at the young man in front of him. "Give my greetings to your mother and father."

Harry fumbled in his robes and pulled out the bag Minerva had given him, his wordlessly enlarged it and tossed the contents out. They tumbled and fell, landing at Voldemort's feet; the charred diary with the hole in the middle; the black and gold ring, the delicate sculpture of the inkwell and quill that once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw, the golden locket that was Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff's golden cup.

Voldemort stared down at them; realisation slowly flooding across his face. His eyes widened and he looked frantically over at Harry who now had his wand levelled at him.

"The Horcruxes you created," Harry said calmly. "All destroyed including Nagini. You're mortal, Tom. As mortal as me, as mortal as any other man."

Voldemort's eyes widened then his face fixed in a frightening snarl. As this happened Dumbledore's words resounded in Harry's mind.

"_Love gives a person great power. You will know what to do when the time comes, Harry_."

In an instant, Harry understood. Voldemort did not understand love and he shrank back from it; it _hurt_ him. He was so evil, so Dark, that love itself hurt him as much as the Cruciatus curse.

Harry closed his eyes and summoned all the love he possessed. He thought of his parents who had loved him so much that they had been willing to die to keep him safe. He thought of his godfather who had suffered so much but had loved him nonetheless and had risked everything to protect him. He thought of Remus who was his last connection to his parents and godfather; who loved him like a son. He thought of the Weasleys who considered him a black-haired son and brother, who had taken him in and loved and cared for him when they didn't have, when they had enough of their own to worry about. He thought of Hermione who loved him like a brother and who had spent so much time worrying about him and keeping him alive. He thought of Ginny who had captured his heart like no other; whom he loved so deeply and desperately it sometimes scared him. And he thought of all the families that had lost loved ones to this evil man and his followers. All the families who would lose loved ones in the future if he did not succeed. And he thought of Dumbledore who he know realised loved him; loved him enough to let him walk his own path even when all he really wished to do was protect Harry with all his might.

Harry gathered all of this love and the power it provided and threw it at Voldemort with a screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"

A green light burst out of the end of his wand but unlike the other times he had seen this spell used, this green light was woven through with threads of gold. The gold-green light slammed into Voldemort's chest and surrounded him briefly. It flared once then Voldemort fell, his wand dropping from his hand and rolling under a nearby chair. Harry stared at the fallen Dark Lord then crawled over and looked down at him. The red eyes were staring at the ceiling, wide and dull and the chest was still. Harry reached out with one shaking hand and placed it on Voldemort's throat. No pulse beat there and Harry slowly got to his feet.

He stared down at the dead body of his enemy almost unable to believe this was real. He raised his hand and touched his scar. It no longer hurt and thought he could tell it was still there. He walked over to the nearby chair and grabbed Voldemort's wand. He then turned and walked out of the room, not looking back even once.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Minerva watched Harry, Ron and Hermione leave then turned to Dumbledore.

"Albus," she began but stopped when he held up his hand.

"Not now, Minerva," Dumbledore said calmly. "You can yell at me to your heart's content later. You can even hex me a bit if you like but Severus believes that Voldemort will send his Death Eaters here and I can only imagine it will be soon."

Minerva nodded. "I shall hold you to that, Albus," she said grimly. "Mr Longbottom, gather your people. Kingsley, do the same."

Neville nodded and ducked into the Great Hall, closely followed by Kingsley Shacklebolt. They returned with their respective groups; Neville leading the DA with Luna and Ginny at his side and Kinglsey leading the combined Order and Ministry forces. The two groups eyed the Headmaster and Snape with shock and surprise, breaking out into startled chatter.

"Silence!" Dumbledore bellowed, gaining instant obedience. "As you can see, stories of my death have been grossly exaggerated. We do not have time to tell the entire story here but the short version is: I was not killed by Severus and he has been working for the Light the entire time. When Harry succeeds tonight, Severus will have played a considerable role in that happening. Now, Voldemort's Death Eaters are likely to be approaching the school. You know what you must do, follow your leaders."

A thundering noise rumbled through the school and the walls shuddered around them.

"Remus, all the students are in their dormitories?" Minerva snapped.

"Yes," Remus replied staunchly. "The teachers who did not wish to join us have joined _them_ and the dormitories are warded and protected."

"Good," Minerva replied and Remus hurried off to join the Order group where he stood beside Moody. "Let's go. That was the first of the wards coming down."

The group walked out of the doors and took up positions in front of the castle. They all had their wands in their hands and they waited silently, all of the words they wanted to say having already been said inside. Minerva stood in the middle of the group with Dumbledore on one side and Snape on the other. The DA students stood to her left with Neville, Luna and Ginny at the front of the group. The Order and Ministry people stood on the other side; Moody stood at the very front with Kingsley at his side and Tonks had worked her way over to join Remus. Seven red heads stood amongst the Order members; Percy had gotten the message from his parents and he and Penelope had taken their places with their family. Fred and George were handing out various items to the Order members and they then hurried over to the DA and did the same with the students. A second rumbling noise rolled up from the borders of the castle and the air shimmered around them.

"That's it," Minerva said grimly. "That will be sufficient to allow them entry."

Just then Hagrid emerged from the Forest, his massive half-brother following him docilely, both of them carrying massive clubs made of tree branches. Grawp looked around the gathered witches and wizards curiously then he turned when they heard the howls of Greyback and his pack.

"Doggies!" Grawp said with a delighted grin. "Hagger, Grawp go play with doggies."

"Tha's okay, Grawpy," Hagrid said. "I'll come with you."

"Hagger play with doggies?" Grawp bellowed happily. "Hagger and Grawp play with doggies!"

"Be careful, Hagrid," Minerva called out.

Hagrid waved one massive hand then he and Grawp jogged towards where the howls had come from. As the others watched, Greyback and his pack came bounding up from the gates, changing directions when they saw the giant and his half-brother.

"Doggies!" they heard Grawp bellow then their eyes widened as the giant simply reached out and picked up one of the massive wolves like it was a puppy.

The wolf twisted in the giant's grasp and sank its teeth into his hand. Grawp bellowed angrily and tossed the wolf to the ground. The snap when the wolf landed was audible and the wolf did not move.

"Doggies bad!" Grawp yelled angrily. "Grawp kill doggies! Hagger kill doggies!"

They watched as Hagrid and his half-brother began laying into the wolf pack with their clubs. They were quickly distracted by the sight of the Death Eaters stalking up the path. The moment they got within spell range the Death Eaters raised their wands and began casting curses and hexes. The castle's defenders scattered and the battle began. The Death Eaters favoured the Cruciatus and the Killing Curse and that put the defenders at a slight disadvantage. In fairly short order it was the DA that began to show their ascendancy. Harry had, through the good offices of Neville, Ginny and Luna, drilled into them the need to keep moving, to dodge the spells. It was easy to avoid the Killing Curse if you weren't there to let it land.

The Order members were quick to follow the DA's lead and so did the Ministry after a few quick, barked orders from Moody and Kingsley. Slowly on each side the numbers began to be whittled away, either by death or by stunning or binding spells. Dean Thomas was the first casualty among the defenders; felled by a Killing Curse as he protected an unconscious Parvati. Shortly afterwards Ernie MacMillan and Zachariah Smith died as they caught and stunned two Death Eaters that bore a remarkable similarity to Crabbe and Goyle. The Weasleys were remarkably intact; they seemed to be working in pairs or small groups, alternating between attacking and protecting each other. It was a tactic that worked well and was quickly copied along with the DA's tactics.

A combined effort at the Stupefy spell by Luna, Ginny and Neville caught the Death Eater who had been leading the group square on the chest. The Death Eater spun around, his mask dislodged by the movement and as he feel the three students recognised Draco Malfoy. They quickly ducked and dodged out of the way of the return volley of spells and were just about to retaliate themselves when suddenly there was a wailing cry emerged from every Death Eater.

The defenders stood stock still as the Death Eaters grabbed at their left arms in a collective, united move. The cries changed to screams and as they watched a strange black smoke emerged from the sleeves of the Death Eater's robes and weaved up to their throats. The smoke circled the throats of the Death Eaters, even the unconscious ones, then solidified and tightened in a sudden move, choking the life out of the Death Eaters in an instant. The defenders turned almost as one towards Snape and found the Headmaster clutching the Potion Master's left arm with one hand. His wand was somehow gripped tightly in his ruined right hand and he was swirling the black smoke around it. As it began to solidify the Headmaster barked a single word and the black smoke around his wand vanished. He let go of Snape's arm and the Potions Master shoved his sleeve back to reveal unblemished skin. There was nearly universal surprise when Snape smiled with delight as none there had ever seen that expression on the dour and sarcastic man's face.

"Potter won," Snape said triumphantly and loudly enough to be heard by all of the defenders.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling brilliantly. "Severus, I do believe you are right."

A mighty cheer rose from the defenders and suddenly everyone was crying and laughing and throwing themselves into the arms of those around them. Only Ginny broke free and she took a few steps forward and stared down towards the gates, her face anxious and hopeful. She was soon joined by her family and they stood beside and behind her as they waited for their adopted son and brother.

Ron and Hermione dived in opposite directions after the Stunning spells left their wands. They rolled and came to their feet, letting a second round of Stunning spells go as soon as they were on their feet. They had the grim pleasure of seeing both Bellatrix and Lucius ducking and dodging their spells, looking surprised at both the strength and speed of them. However the two senior Death Eaters rapidly recovered and Lucius threw a nasty curse in Ron's direction while Bellatrix caught Hermione with a well-aimed Cruciatus.

Ron heard his girlfriend's screams from behind him and he swallowed hard as he ducked Lucius' second curse and threw a quick Expelliarmus at the blond wizard. When Lucius was concentratig on darting out of the way of that, Ron turned and threw Ginny's favourite Bat-Bogey hex at the insane witch. He heard her scream some vicious obscenities and he allowed himself a brief grin before returning all his attention to Lucius.

The four of them exchanged spells, the walls crumbling around them as the curses and hexes were dodged or deflected. For the first time, Ron and Hermione saw the value of the training Moody had given them. As the battle continued, they could see Lucius and Bellatrix starting to sweat and breathe heavily. The two students were definitely feeling the effects of casting so many spells but they were still feeling reasonably fit and able to continue dodging the spells. As soon as they both realised this they both started dodging more and using shielding spells less. The less energy they spent on shielding spells the more they would have for offensive spells.

They had no idea how long they had been fighting when suddenly Lucius and Bellatrix screamed and clutched at their left arms. Ron made his way over to Hermione and they watched in horror as black smoke trickled out from the sleeves of Lucius and Bellatrix's robes. The smoke worked its way up to their throats then wrapped around them, solidified and strangled them in a few dreadful seconds. The smoke then floated away and Ron and Hermione looked at each other for several long moments.

"Please tell me that means what I think it means," Ron said quietly. "Are you okay?"

Hermione nodded though she was favouring one ankle. "You?"

Ron nodded then he took a deep breath. "Fine. Harry?"

"Never better," came the reply from the stairs.

Ron and Hermione whirled around and looked up to see Harry standing on the landing above the foyer, looking weary and exhausted but triumphant nevertheless.

"Is he…dead?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

Harry nodded. "Yes."

Hermione gave a sobbing cry and buried her head in Ron's chest. He wrapped his arms around her almost instinctively as Harry slowly walked down the stairs.

"He's really dead?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Harry said again as he walked over and stood next to his friends. "It's over."

Ron reached out with one arm and dragged Harry into a fierce hug. After a few seconds Harry returned it and Hermione freed one arm and wrapped it around him as well. Harry buried his face into Hermione's hair and slowly began to cry. From the shuddering of Ron's shoulders, he was doing the same thing and the three friends stood there in that abandoned manor for several minutes before they got themselves back under control. The slowly separated, not looking at each other as they wiped their tears away.

"Let's go home," Harry said into the silence.

Ron and Hermione nodded and the three of them walked out of the manor, not even sparing a glance at the two dead Death Eaters lying behind them. They walked through the still night air until they passed the wards then they apparated back to the gates of Hogwarts and walked up towards the castle. Halfway there they passed several dead wolves; they looked like they'd been beaten in some manner.

"Harry!"

The shriek had all three of them looking up to see Ginny sprinting down the path towards them. She threw herself into Harry's arms, tears running down her face, then she lifted her head and kissed him fiercely. Harry held her tightly and returned the kiss, not noticing the rest of the Weasleys running up to them, delighted smiles on their faces. When he and Ginny finally broke apart he was swept into Mrs Weasley's arms then passed to Arthur then from brother to brother. The same thing was happening to Ron and Hermione and when he finally was relinquished back into Ginny's embrace, he exchanged amused glances with them.

"Oh Harry!" Molly said, unable to say anything more. She simply smiled at him with delight.

"Well done, Harry," came the quiet voice of the Headmaster and the Weasleys parted to allow Dumbledore to pass.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, not letting go of Ginny.

Dumbledore's eyes were alight with delight and pride and he smiled broadly at Harry.

"I know this is the last thing you would like to do but the Minister is here and would like to know what happened," Dumbledore said quietly. "He has already spoken to many of us who were here but your story is what he really wants to know."

Harry sighed and nodded; he didn't like the idea but he knew it was necessary. "Could you tell him to get everyone who wants to hear it in one place because I really don't want to have to tell it more than once."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I think that is fair."

The group walked back up the castle. The defenders, who were now cleaning up the grounds, looked up as they passed and slowly enthusiastic applause began to grow. The defenders left what they had been doing and followed along behind and by the time they reached the castle there was quite the entourage trailing behind Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys. The first person Harry saw when he walked into the Entrance Hall was Remus and he broke away from Ginny to throw his arms around the werewolf.

"It's over, Remus," he said softly.

"I know, Harry," Remus said with quiet delight. "I know."

"Harry," Dumbledore said quietly.

Harry let go of Remus and walked over to join the Headmaster. Minister Scrimgeour was standing next to Dumbledore and he held out his hand to Harry with a sober look.

"Thank you, Harry," Scrimgeour said with a respectful inclination of his head. "Albus said you only wish to do this once. I am perfectly willing to abide by that wish. Perhaps we should take this into the Great Hall."

Harry nodded and followed the Minister into the Great Hall. They were followed by the Order, the Ministry defenders and the DA. When the Minister protested this last inclusion, Dumbledore said that as the DA had protected the castle with the same ability as the others, they deserved to hear what had happened as well. The Minister wasn't pleased about this idea but he subsided when Harry agreed with the Headmaster. Harry then walked up to the teachers' table where Snape was sitting.

"Welcome back, Mr Potter," Snape said, standing and bowing slightly.

Harry was a bit startled at that action and he nodded awkwardly in return. "Thank you, Professor Snape."

Harry sat down and was joined by the Minister, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. An Auror came forward at the Minister's signal and she pulled out a quill and some parchment, sitting down near the trio and looking ready. Everyone else had settled themselves down at the various tables by this stage and one glance from the Minister had them sitting quietly.

"Harry, will you tell us what happened after you left Hogwarts?" Minister Scrimgeour asked firmly.

Harry took a deep breath and slowly began to speak, the scratching of the Auror's quill the only other sound in the room. He described their approach to the manor, the fact that Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange were waiting for them in the foyer. He described how Ron and Hermione had distracted them in order to allow him to get up the stairs to where Voldemort was waiting.

The Minister asked him to pause here and asked Ron and Hermione to give an account of what they had done. They quickly described their battle with Bellatrix and Lucius, everyone wincing when Hermione told how she had suffered under the Cruciatus. They finished their account with the description of what had emerged from the dark Mark and how that had killed Lucius and Bellatrix. The Minister thanked them then respectfully asked Harry to continue.

Harry described how he'd climbed the stairs to find Voldemort waiting for him. He told them of their verbal exchange and his revelation of the prophecy caused more than one horrified look in the room. He then described how they had duelled for a while and their continued verbal exchanges. Finally he came to the point where he'd been knocked down. He ignored the gasps that sounded through the room and described how he'd thrown the destroyed Horcruxes at Voldemort's feet.

Dumbledore picked up the story here, explaining to the horrified crowd about Voldemort's experimentation into creating more than one Horcrux and how _that_ had been how he had survived the Killing Curse the night Harry's parents had died. He described how between himself and Harry, they had found each of the various Horcruxes and destroyed them. He also told how Voldemort's snake, Nagini, had also been a Horcrux and described Snape's role in the destruction of the snake _and_ the retrieval of the last Horcrux.

Harry picked up the story again and described how he used love to power his Killing curse. The room was absolutely silent at this point as Harry, in a shaking voice, told how he gathered all of the love that he had for his parents, his godfather, his friends, his adopted family, for everyone and threw it behind his Avada Kedavra. They listened as he described how the green light had been shot through with gold and how it had felled the Dark Lord as effectively as any other Killing Curse. He then pulled Voldemort's wand out of his robes and placed it on the table in front of the Minister. Scrimgeour recoiled slightly then he gingerly picked it up and handed it off to Kingsley Shacklebolt with a look of distaste.

"What happened then?" the Minister asked into the silent room.

"I went downstairs," Harry said quietly though his voice carried easily. "Found Ron and Hermione and we came back here."

The Minister nodded and silence reigned throughout the room.

"Thank you, Harry, Ron, Hermione," Scrimgeour said with a nod of his head. "Now I think you three should get some rest. Your job is done."

"Quite right," Madam Pomfrey said, elbowing her way through the crowd. She placed a hand on Harry's shoulder then repeated the action with Ron and Hermione. "Don't think I didn't see that limp, Miss Granger."

A low chuckle shimmered through the room as Madam Pomfrey ushered the three students out, with Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys following. She fussed around them as they got changed and into beds in the Hospital Wing then she handed them goblets of Dreamless Sleep. The trio drank gratefully and let sleep swirl around and drag them down.

When they woke early the next afternoon, they found Mrs Weasley sitting between Ron and Hermione's beds and Ginny sitting between Harry and Ron's beds. Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office at Mrs Weasley's call and she quickly checked the three students over. She told Hermione she'd healed her ankle while she slept then told the three of them they could go whenever they liked. They quickly got changed back into their school robes and left the Hospital Wing with Mrs Weasley and Ginny.

"I'll be going now myself," Mrs Weasley said when they got to the Entrance Hall. "I only stayed to make sure you were alright."

She hugged them all tightly and kissed Ron and Ginny. She then smiled and kissed Harry and Hermione before heading out of the castle. Harry took Ginny's hand and Ron did the same with Hermione.

"So what now?" Ron said to no one in particular.

"There's parties going on in all of the common rooms," Ginny said with a smile. "The Gryffindor one was particularly boisterous when I left this morning. Fred and George left a lot of stuff with Seamus."

Harry stared down at the floor. "Did anybody die?" he asked.

Ginny sobered and held his hand tighter. "Dean Thomas. Ernie MacMillan. Zachariah Smith. A couple of Slytherins we didn't really know. Some Aurors." She paused. "And all of the Death Eaters except for Snape."

Harry grimaced and Ginny cupped his chin in her hand. "It wasn't your fault, Harry," she said firmly. "They made the decision to stand and fight. No one forced them. They could have stayed in the dorms. You did what you had to do and so did they."

Harry let out a shuddering breath and nodded. "I know."

"Let's go and sit down by the lake," Hermione suggested. "I don't know about you guys but I'm not really ready to celebrate just yet."

The others nodded and they walked out of the Entrance Hall and down to the lake.

It took a couple of weeks for everyone to settle down and get back into their normal routines. The students had a tendency to eye Harry, Ron and Hermione with awe and stunned respect. The trio found this annoying until Seamus grinned and started kowtowing in front of them in a manner that Fred and George would have applauded. His actions had a two-fold effect; firstly, they made Harry, Ron and Hermione relax and secondly, they stopped the worst of the hero worship when they showed how stupid such actions looked to others.

Minerva kept her position of Headmistress though she made it clear that the job was Dumbledore's at the end of the year. Slughorn also made it clear that he was leaving at the end of the year and, much to everyone's surprise, Snape agreed to resume his teaching duties after a long discussion with Dumbledore. Remus also indicated he would be leaving at the end of the year; the Minister had approached him about working as a liaison between the Ministry and the remaining werewolves. Remus' tale about how Voldemort had nearly gained their support and the _why_ behind that had the Minister deciding that maybe it was time that something was done. Moody agreed to continue on as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for at least one more year, having surprisingly enjoyed himself teaching during the year.

Harry, Ron and Hermione bent their efforts into their NEWT revision, glad to be doing something normal and having nothing else to worry about for once. Harry took a day out of his studies to take Snape down into the Chamber to retrieve the remaining Basilisk fang. He found the Potions Master still highly abrasive and sarcastic but the nasty edge seemed to have disappeared. Harry got the impression that Snape didn't hate him quite as much anymore. Casimir had settled on a feather pattern halfway between his old pattern as Fawkes and his new one as Casimir. He still answered to both names and spent about an equal amount of time with both wizards.

When the trio walked out of their last NEWT exam they adjourned down to the lake, returning to the place where they had sat after Dumbledore's funeral the previous year.

"So what are you going to do after we finish this year?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry snorted as he lay back and laced his fingers together behind his head. This was a question he'd been asked many times in the last several weeks by many, many people. He stared up at the clouds thoughtfully.

"I'm not going into the Auror program," he said quietly. "I think I've had my fill of dark wizards and witches."

Ron looked surprised but Hermione nodded.

"I'm not surprised," she said quietly as she leaned against Ron. "You've done your job."

"So what are you going to do?" Ron asked.

"I'm going to play Quidditch," Harry replied. "For a year at least. See if I like it. I've had offers for trials from half the teams in the England league. Well, everyone except for the Harpies actually. But I'm only trying out for the ones that made it clear that they'll judge me on my ability, not my name." He paused and shot a sly look at Ron. "And yes, one of those teams is the Cannons."

"_Please_ say you'll give them a fair go," Ron pleaded anxiously.

Harry laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I can promise I'll give them a fair go," he said with a grin. "And if they want me and I like them, I'll join."

Ron whooped excitedly before Hermione smacked him on the arm.

"So what are you two going to do?" Harry asked warmly.

"Moody's given me a recommendation to go into the Aurors," Ron said. "Assuming my NEWTs are good enough I should get in."

"You still want to become an Auror?" Harry asked curiously, looking over at Ron.

Ron nodded slowly. "Well, _your_ job is done but I kind of like the idea of working there."

"Good," Harry said. "What about you, Hermione?"

"I've had a couple of offers," she said thoughtfully. "I was having a bit of trouble deciding between them but I think I might accept the offer from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I think I could do some good work there for house elves and werewolves."

They were quiet for a time then Hermione looked over at Harry.

"What did you mean when you said you'd play Quidditch at least for a year?" she asked.

"I met with Moody and Dumbledore last week," Harry replied. "They said the Defence job is mine whenever I want it. I…kind of like the idea of teaching but I'd like to see something of the world first. So I thought I'd go and play Quidditch for a while then come back here and teach."

"You couldn't teach next year anyway," Ron said with a grin. "Teachers can't get involved with their students and Ginny's got one year left."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, that was a consideration."

"At least if you play Quidditch the team management will keep the reporters away," Hermione said with a frown.

Harry rolled his eyes and Ron did the same. The reporters had been trying to sneak in ever since Voldemort had been killed and eventually the teachers had had to alter the wards to keep them from sneaking in. Hagrid had helped with that as well, convincing Grawp to wander down near where the reporters had gathered. Grawp hadn't hurt them but he had made some suggestions about playing with them. Since the reporter knew Grawp viewed what he and Hagrid had done to Greyback as _playing_, they'd quickly scattered, keeping largely to Hogsmeade.

"Maybe if I keep refusing to talk to them, they'll find something more interesting to write about," Harry said, half-hopefully. "I just want to concentrate on my future. Now that I actually _have_ one."

"Sounds good to me," Ron said idly.

The three students settled back into silence and considered what now lay in front of them. It was good to finally contemplate normality rather than what Voldemort was going to do next and Harry was happy to keep it that way. His life was now his own and he had a job to look forward to and a girlfriend to spend time with. As far as he was concerned, life was good.

The End


End file.
